


The Magic of Nature

by Rayj4ck



Series: Press Start to Begin [1]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Childhood Trauma, F/F, Mild Language, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Stardew Valley AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2020-01-11 19:52:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 45,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18430952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayj4ck/pseuds/Rayj4ck
Summary: Lena was living her life in the city until, out of nowhere, she gets a letter that her estranged "Aunt" Magica has passed. Looking to spend as little time on this as possible, Lena heads down to the de Spell Farm in Stardew Valley to lay this part of her life to rest as quickly as possible. But maybe not as quickly as she hopes.





	1. Welcome to Stardew Valley

**Author's Note:**

> This is going to be a quick intro chapter that follows the beginning of the game pretty closely. After this, we begin to diverge a bit.

Lena stepped off the bus and squinted her eyes against the sunlight. In the city, the sun only managed to shine onto the streets during the middle of the day. But out here in the country, nothing blocked the offending rays. Pulling her sunglasses from her forehead to her eyes, she stepped off the paved road and onto a dirt path. Taking a deep breath, she was struck by the fresh air. She had gotten so used to the smells of the city that the untouched breeze felt like dipping her hands into cool water after burning them.

“Hi! You must be Lena!” Bringing her eyes forward, she saw another duck waiting for her. He had brown feathers and was wearing a shirt and tie.

“Only if I must be,” Lena replied, not offering a hand to shake.

The other duck let out a hearty laugh. “I like the wit. I’m Fenton. I’m here to show you over to the de Spell Farm. The mayor, Scrooge, is over there now tidying up as best he can.”

Lena nodded and extended her arm down the road. “Lead on, Fenton.” As they walked, Lena realized that this might have been the first time she had walked on grass in years. The urge to walk barefoot rose up within her, but she pushed it back. She wasn’t staying for long, but she still didn’t want these people to think she was crazy.

“Here it is!” Fenton cut through her thoughts. How long had they been walking? Surely no more than ten minutes. Was it really that close? Wouldn’t she have seen it from the road? As Lena looked over Fenton’s shoulder, she understood why she hadn’t spotted it. The farm was an absolute mess. Trees were everywhere, weeds that reached past her knees, and rocks the size of small cars were scattered around. Now that she was introduced to it, she could faintly make out the outline of where the farmland ended. But it was not easy.

“Woah. This place looks like shit.” Fenton snorted into his palm behind her, but quickly composed himself. “Yeah it’s a little overgrown, but there’s good soil under all that!”

Before Lena could respond, the door to the small house they were standing in front of was thrown open and out walked another duck. With a cane, monocle, top hat, and nice outfit Lena could only assume this was the mayor.

“Ah, you must be the new farmer! Miss de Spell.”

“Lena. What happened here?” She asked, looking out over the unusable farmscape. “I thought Magica died only a few weeks ago.”

“She did.” Scrooge leaned in and whispered conspiratorially to her. “If I’m being honest, she didn’t take good care of this land.” Yeah, that sounds like Aunt Magica. Straightening up, Scrooge continued in a normal voice. “I tried to handle everything on the inside, but if I’m honest most of it went over my head.” He sheepishly scratched the back of his head, but Lena was relieved. Whatever Magica had in there shouldn’t be handled by anyone without an intermediate knowledge of magic.

“Don’t worry. I can handle that stuff.”

“Ya sure? It’s a little cramped in there.”

At this, Fenton perked up. “Cramped? I can help with that! I’m a carpenter, I can put some exten-”

“Alright Alright! Run your sales pitch on your own time Fenton.” Scrooge cut him off. “Sure you don’t need any other help lass?” Lena shook her head, and Scrooge nodded back. “Very well. Anything you want to sell you put in that there bin, I’ll come to pick it up in the night and leave the profits in the mailbox. And, ah” Scrooge took a few small packets out of his jacket pocket. “I know your Aunt wasn’t too into this kind of stuff, but if you feel the urge to start working the soil, this could get you started.” Lena accepted the seeds from the Mayor and examined them in her hand. Parsnips. “Well, have a good afternoon Miss de Spell, and welcome to Stardew Valley!”


	2. New Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena meets some townspeople and some towns-not-quite-people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This week on "how do I motivate a character to go somewhere the player can just wander into whenever they want"

Lena looked up to the house. It was small, probably no bigger than her apartment back in the city. But because Magica had been the one living there, it felt like the building was towering over her. But she had come all this way, she wasn’t going to back out now. Besides, the bus didn’t come back until the next day at least. Steeling her nerve, Lena unlocked the front door and pushed it open. 

And immediately turned her head to the side and gagged. The interior of the small house reeked of shadow magic. The sensation made Lena want to vomit, and several bad memories rose to the forefront of her mind of their own volition. Feeling her chest begin to tighten up, she quickly slammed the door shut and sat down on the front steps.

_ “-hy do I even bother with you? What good wil-” _

Lena took deep breaths, feeling the fresh air in her lungs like the taste of mint on her tongue. Her fingers dug into the steps so hard she was leaving gashes in the wood, but she could feel herself beginning to breathe easier. Waiting a few more moments, she took one final breath and turned back the door. It stood silent, just as imposing as before, but now Lena knew what was waiting for her on the other side. Crouching down to the grass, she put one hand on the dirt and one on the crystal on a chain around her neck. Muttering a few words, the grass under her palm withered and died, and the crystal around her neck began to glow a faint green. It was a quick and dirty spell, and Lena felt a little disgusted with herself for falling back into old habits so quickly. But she needed something to help her handle the interior if the house. Besides, Lena had the feeling Mother Nature would thank her in the long run for cleansing this monstrosity against the natural order. Nodding to herself, Lena pushed open the door once more and entered the house.

Now that she could see the inside, Lena felt her heart sink. The Mayor had said it was cramped, but Lena thought he was understating it. The building was stuffed floor to ceiling with magical ingredients and instruments. The only space not taken was the small bed in the corner. Lena grimaced. This was going to take her a lot longer than she had thought. 

She ended up spending most of the day nullifying any and all magical enchantments Magica had put on her equipment, and organizing the mess. She was hoping she would be able to sell most of it to some starry-eyed magic newbies online, but even disenchanted Lena knew that the things Magica possessed were still dangerous. She would need to find some way to destroy it safely. Looking up from the last object, an enchanted dagger that would cause permanent blindness to anyone it cut, Lena saw that it was nighttime. Yawning, she threw it into the “Dangerous” pile, which was the only pile. Later. She would need to find some way to destroy it later. Dragging herself over to her bed, Lena flopped down. Despite the uncanny surroundings, she was out like a light in no time at all. 

-

When she woke, Lena’s heart nearly burst when she first saw her surroundings. She rocketed up in bed and was halfway through a spell when her memories caught up to her. Sighing and rubbing her eyes, she swung her feet to the floor and went to prepare for the day. After a quick shower, she sat on the bed, looking at the pile of dangerous magical artifacts, already feeling tired. Her stomach took this moment to remind her that she hadn’t eaten since the bagel she had before she got on the bus almost 24 hours ago. Lena briefly considered opening the fridge, before all the ways that could go wrong came to mind. She had some gold she brought from the city, so breakfast out in the town couldn’t hurt. 

Following the path past the bus stop, she arrived in the smallest town she had ever seen. Seriously there had to be like 15 buildings total. Thoroughly lost, she stood in what was probably town center like a deer in headlights until her eyes caught on “Beakly’s General Store” 

“Well, good a place as any to start,” Lena muttered to herself and headed inside. The jingle of a bell marked door being opened, and Lena was again surprised by this little town. She was used to supermarkets with 20 plus isles, tile floors and fluorescent lights. Beakly’s had only a couple of shoulder-high shelves, no refrigerated section to be heard of, and natural lighting. 

“One second!” A voice called from behind the counter. Strolling up, Lena leaned up next to the register and waited. Glancing to the side, she noticed the explorer’s pack on sale. It looked pretty big, a lot bigger than the old high school backpack she had dug up for this trip.

“Hi, what can I g-” the voice popped up from behind the counter, but trailed off in confusion. The shorter young lady (although a lot of others were shorter than Lena) with the pink bow stared at her, confused. “I don’t recognize you.”

“Well, I did just get here yesterday. I’d be kind of worried if you did.”

“Just got here… YOU MUST BE THE NEW FARMER!” Suddenly her face was brighter than the sun, so bright that it threw Lena off for a second.

“Uh, well farmer is a strong word, but I am new in town yeah.”

“What’s it like?” The lady asked, leaning past the counter with a manic glint in her eye.

“What’s uh, what like?”

“Where you lived before?” Seeming to catch herself, the lady leaned back and scuffed the floor sheepishly. “I’ve never left this town before, so ah-”

“Webbigail!” Lena turned to the side and saw an imposing figure standing in the doorway. Stepping through, she walked behind the counter to stand next to Webbigail, who Lena noticed became much quieter and withdrawn. She gritted her teeth behind her easygoing smile. 

“I’m sorry. She doesn’t meet new people often, and can sometimes get a bit too...personal. You must be-”

“The new farmer.” Lena echoed her. “Yeah, but that was actually a misprint on my birth certificate, so most people call me Lena.” She put out a hand to shake “And it’s no problem at all. Living in a town this not-big my whole life, I can understand the curiosity.” Lena kept the smile up, but could see that she was getting under the lady’s skin.

“Ah. Well, my name is Bentina Beakly, and this is my granddaughter Webby. If you have any questions about the store, she is more than capable to answer them.”

“Awesome! I was actually wondering if there was some sort of breakfast I could order? I haven’t gotten around to clearing out the fridge yet.”

Webby and Beakly locked eyes and seemed to have a silent conversation for a few agonizingly long seconds. Finally, Beakly sighed and turned back to her. “We don’t sell anything already made, but we did have leftovers from our breakfast we would be happy to share.”

“Woah. Really?” Lena asked, caught off guard. Sure, you could find little oases of community in the city, but for the most part, it was everyone for themselves. There definitely wasn’t the idea that you would share your breakfast with someone you had just met. 

“Think nothing of it,” Beakly responded although it did look like it hurt her a little. “Just give me one moment to prepare it for you.” 

As soon as she had exited back through the door to the right of the counter, Lena leaned halfway over the counter and lowered her voice. “So, now that the adults are gone, what’s there to do in this town that’s fun?”

Webby, caught off guard, giggled a little before answering. Lena felt a stir in her chest when she heard it, but pushed it down. “Well, Launchpad’s Saloon is pretty good. Also a better place to get a meal than here, but it’s only open for lunch and dinner.”

“Saloon huh? Is ‘Ms. Prep-jock’ hiding a party animal?” Lena pushed back the urge to run a finger down Webby’s cheek. Even though she  _ really  _ wanted to, that is definitely an invasion of personal space.

Webby’s face flushed and she turned away. “Not like that. Not for me at least. It has an arcade. The boys and I spend time there when we can.”

“The boys?”

“Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Donald’s nephews. Don’t ask what happened to their parents. Rough subject.” 

“Got it.” Lena briefly considered asking why Webby wasn’t living with her parents but decided against it. That would be pretty messed up. “Anywhere else worth spending time?”

“Well, depends on your interests. There’s Gyro’s mad science lab in the woods, Donald’s fishing shop on the beach, the museum/library, you know what, here!” Webby rummaged around under the counter for a second and came back up with a pamphlet. Blowing off an impressive layer of dust, she passed it over to Lena. “There’s a map in here. It has all the big spots. I’ll pencil in all the other stuff worth your time too.”

“Hey, thanks Pink.”

“Well Lena, this should keep you a while.” Beakly shouldered her way back through the door, holding a plastic bag stuffed incredibly high with food. Webby shot back to her side of the counter, Lena opting to stay right where she was, but quickly stuffing the map in her bag. “Welcome to the Stardew Valley.” Beakly deadpanned to her, holding out the bag. 

“Truly an unparalleled Master of Ceremonies you are.” Beakly stiffened, and almost considered pulling the bag back, but Lena had already taken it. “Webby, English, thank you for providing me sustenance to sustain my mortal coil. I’ll find a way to pay you back.” She continued as she walked backward toward the door. 

“Oh don’t worry about it!” Webby called after her. “It was nice meeting you!”

-

As stuffy as Beakly was, Lena couldn’t deny she made an excellent waffle, even reheated. Sitting cross-legged on Magica’s- her bed, she chewed away while looking at the map Webby had given her. Before she was interrupted, Webby had only circled things, and the written word “train” by the train tracks, which was kind of obvious. Lena figured she would have to investigate all the spots herself. 

If she were staying. Which she isn’t. “Ugh.” Lena ran a hand over her face. It felt like this place was infecting her, with every breath of fresh air it was harder and harder to remember her life in the city. The crappy one? With the tiny apartment, the mind-numbing job, where seven years of her life slid by like oil through her fingers? And that was the rub. Because the longer Lena stayed, the more she wanted to stay. But this was where SHE lived. In this house. Even smaller than her own space, shadow magic seeping out of the walls like smoke.

Lena had to go.

Shoving the rest of the waffle in her mouth, Lena grabbed the map and pushed out into the yard. And immediately fell over a stick hidden in the grass.

“Rrrraaaagh! Damn it all!” Lena cursed as she got to her feet and brushed herself off. Maybe it would be worth it to clear out some of the brushlands in front of the house. For now, she settled on opening the map and picking a spot to walk to. 

_ Huh. Community center. Seems like a good place to figure out how to offload some stuff for incineration. _ Lena knew no one would probably be there this late to answer questions at least, but she needed to go somewhere, and getting a look at the place might help her feel less anxious when she goes during the day. Stuffing her hands in her pockets against the nighttime chill, Lena set off, deciding to take the way behind the house. Launchpad’s was still open, and she didn’t want to run into anyone in town square and have the “new farmer” conversation at 11:30 at night. As she trekked, Lena couldn’t help but think of those outdoorsy magazines they had in waiting rooms. She never really got the pictures of sweeping forests or two-story waterfalls. Now she could see it, and she had to admit that it would be worth a couple of tacky pictures to remember this feeling. 

Lena was so lost in thought she didn’t even realize she had arrived. And when she did, her heart sunk like a stone to the bottom of a pond. The building in front of her was barely standing. It could hardly even be called a building. The wood was covered in moss and rot, with vines crawling up the sides. The windows all shattered, and one of the hands from the rusty clocktower was embedded in the ground in front of the building. No one had even bothered to steal it. 

“Gods,” Lena muttered. “What happened here?” She looked for a moment longer, and was about to turn back for home when a familiar sensation pulled the edge her mind.

_ Magic. _

Lena peered through the windows, trying to discern anything, but the darkness was too thick. Next time she went out at night, she was bringing a flashlight. Placing a hand on the crystal around her neck, she approached the door. Nudging it open with her foot gently, her mouth fell open. There were magical creatures  _ everywhere _ in this building. She couldn’t tell what they were, she had never seen anything like them before. But she could feel the magic flowing like a river through them all. And in her moment of hesitation, the creatures noticed her. Everything stopped, and for a long moment, nothing moved.

…

The creatures scattered like rats. Lena, in her haste, forgot to actually prepare any magic to use. In a panic, she reached down deep and created a spark out of raw magic. It still wasn’t powerful though, and when she threw it blindly it barely singed the wall. 

“☹︎□︎□︎🙵 □︎◆︎⧫︎📪︎ ⬧︎♒︎♏︎🕯︎⬧︎ ◆︎⬧︎♓︎■︎♑︎ magic!” Lena stopped. She didn’t know they had a language. She took a moment to actually observe the chaos, and saw that none of the things were actually attacking her. All of them were scrambling for hiding spots, diving through doorways and behind bookcases. 

Lena never could bring herself to kill something running away. “Ok. Ok look.” She called, taking her hands off the crystal on her neck and put them up in the air. “No magic.” The creatures, all of which were hidden by now, did not come out. Grimacing, Lena looked down at the crystal, and back up at the apparently empty building. Gritting her teeth, she gripped the crystal again, before ripping it off and throwing it through a broken window. Gods, what was she doing? Sitting down cross-legged on the floor, she said it again. “No magic.” And she waited.

Eventually, she heard hushed voices. She wouldn’t be able to make out what they were saying even if she knew their language, but she knew they were talking. More time passed, and Lena sat patiently through all of it, intent on learning about these creatures she didn’t know. Soon enough, one of the creatures came forward. She watched it slowly approach, keeping her face neutral. It got closer and closer, soon able to reach out and touch her knee if it wanted. Which it did. Reaching out a trembling limb, it tapped her leg and immediately jumped back.

Lena only raised an eyebrow. 

It looked back to her, and seemed to come to a decision. Making some sort of weird chirping/squeaking noise, it must have signaled all of it’s friends to come out, for file out they did, making sure to give Lena a healthy amount of space. The one that had tapped her picked a leaf off the ruined floor and made more noises. The leaf, green with summer’s blessing, began to glow subtlely in the dark. The creature extended the leaf to her. Gently taking it between her thumb and forefinger, Lena held it up to her eyes. 

“Uh, thanks?” The creature took one of it’s limbs and put it over where she assumed a mouth would be. “What?” It did it again, with both limbs. “You want me to… eat it?” The creature jumped up and down with it’s limbs in the air, making more squeaking noises. Lena inspected it for a long moment, although even if she learned anything she knew she would have no way to interpret it. Sighing, she mustered a “sure, why not?” Before placing the leaf on her tongue and biting down. 

And then a feeling exploded inside her. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed. 

-

Lena first became aware of the fireflies. They were flitting around, trying to attract each other. The trees were creaking, subtly all the time. The grass swayed in patterns impossible to guess but easy to recognize. Flowers waited for the sun to return, eager to drink their fill of the infinite rays. Deep, deep in the earth, where previous residents tread, ice crusted over wooden support beams and magma bubbled in lethal pools. In the rivers and ponds across town, algae clung to rocks, stripping away anything it could use.  

Lena opened her eyes. Something inside her told her she should rocket up, panicking and pacing and trying to determine what they did to her. But she didn’t. She sat up slowly. Contemplatively. She could feel it, deep in her soul. The shadow magic that made her, bound her. Something new was there, entwining with what had always been. A whole new world had been opened to her eyes. Looking back down at the floor, the creatures looked back at her.

“Hello.” The leader said.

-

Down the hill, a young girl sat on top of her granny’s store, her eyes glued to her night vision binoculars. 


	3. Ghost Stories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena has a conversation with some magical creatures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what everyone really loves? Rushed, dialogue-based exposition.

“Hi.” Lena replied, trying to force her way through the drug-like calm that had descended on her. “Nice to meet you. What are you?” 

The leader didn’t reply. They all just stared at her. 

“Uh, I can come back tomorrow night if that leaf thing wore you all out or something.”

“Shadow Golem.” Lena winced. It was better than being called de Spell, but not by much. “The last shadow magician who entered this building caused untold chaos.”

“Magica.” Lena felt like Atlas just dropped the world on her shoulders. Was there no place on the face of the planet Magica didn’t corrupt? “What did she do?” 

“You do not know? Are you not her creation?” The creatures asked innocently enough, and it would be crazy to expect them to know her story already, but this conversation was grating against Lena’s mind like sandpaper. It felt like the shadows were closing in on her. 

“I am.” Lena forced out. “But I got away.”

“What? Impossible!” The creatures chittered behind the leader. “A golem can not-”

“Lena!” Lena snapped before she could stop herself. The creature drew back, prepared to bolt again. Sighing, Lena dug the heels of her hands into her eyes. “Look, Magica made me too strong to control, and I got away, long before she moved here. And she’s dead now anyway, so I wouldn’t be able to answer to her even if I wanted to. So can you please just tell me what she did so I can fix it and MOVE ON?” Realizing she had gotten worked up again, she sat back on her haunches and took another deep breath. She considered apologizing, but she didn’t trust her own mouth to behave, so she stayed silent.

“The Shadow Witch has moved on? Rejoice!” The creature jumped up and down again, and all the ones behind it followed suit. It occurred to Lena that this would be insulting if she didn’t hate Magica as much as she did. Instead, she waited for the festivities to die down. When the creatures calmed down, they seemed to remember she was there. “My apologies Lena.” the frontrunner said sheepishly. “Magica has been an enemy of the Junimos for years.”

“Oh, no problem. What did she do to make you guys so mad at her? I thought you nature spirit types were all ‘zen and meditation’ and stuff.”

“Magica, she...when she first came here, we did not suspect her of any ill will. We talked with her willingly and frequently. We trusted her.” Lena had a bad feeling where this was going. “One day, she...she led one of our more naive back to her hut where she...she…”

“Ok.” Lena interrupted soothingly. You don’t have to keep going. I get it.”

“We ran.” the Junimo continued on. “We ran and hid. And this place that we lived in, that we loved, it fell to ruin. Eventually, we returned, and Magica didn’t come looking for us. But our magic, it faded. We could do nothing to help this town, not anymore.” 

Lena nodded, looking out into the distance. “Can you get your magic back?” 

“What?”

“There are ways to rejuvenate sources of magic. I remember that from my...there has to be a way right?”

“Well, conceivably yes. But we would need many different resources for different, complex rituals-”

“I’m in.”

“What?” Lena imagined that if the junimo had a mouth it would be hanging open. “Lena, some of these ingredients are very rare! It could take years to complete!”

Lena didn’t answer right away, still looking out in the distance. “It’s fine. I came here to clean up Magica’s mess. Should’ve guessed she would leave a bigger one than just the house.” She ended that thought with a wry chuckle before continuing. “Besides, my city life sucked anyway. I wouldn’t mind giving farm life a try for a while. So, what do I need to get?”

 

-

 

Lena looked at the list in her hands once again and sighed. She still stood by her words last night, but the Junimos weren’t lying when they said these ingredients weren’t common. She wasn’t even sure what some of them were. Morel? Fiddlehead Fern? Lena thought that was just the name of one of those indie bands back in the city, not something that actually existed. But she would focus on those later. For now, she would work with what she could identify. Pushing open the door to  _ Beakly’s  _ Lena walked in. And there, at the register, sat Webby. She seemed to be reading some sort of magazine, but when the bell dinged, she looked up and smiled at Lena. “Lena! Welcome back! Here for more breakfast?”

Snorting, Lena waved a hand in front of her face. “No, no. Even if it was spectacular, I don’t just want to keep taking your leftovers. I’m going to try making my own stuff. Speaking of which, does the shop sell any farming tools?”

“Yes we do!” Webby said cheerfully. If she were back in the city, she would assume this was false, customer-service-cheer. But she got the feeling that Webby was actually just this happy. Maybe it was a bit too happy, but this was only the second day Lena had known the cute store hand. 

_ Wait, what? Where did that come from? _ Lena shook her head to clear her thoughts, and when she refocused, Webby had laid out a set of tools on the countertop. “They’re a little old.” Webby admitted, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly. “We’ve been trying to get rid of them for a while. But they’re free with the purchase of any 20 bags of seeds, and you can get them refurbished at Selene’s workshop.”

“Sounds like a perfect deal to me.” Lena flashed Webby a charming smile and the shorter girl looked like she was about to combust. “I’d like some of these seeds, please.” She said, sliding a list across the counter with her pointer finger. 

“Right away!” Webby squeaked out, and dashed through the doors to the back to grab them for her. Drumming her fingers on the counter, Lena eyed the explorer’s bag still up on display. It was a bit out of her price range at the moment, but it would probably be a good investment if she were staying around for a while. “Here you are!” Webby came back with the seed packets in hand, and laid them in Lena’s when she got back to the counter. 

Handing over the gold, Lena said “Thank you very much. One last question, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all!”

Pulling out the map Webby had given her, Lena put her finger over one of the circles up near the north. “Mineshaft?”

“Yeah!” Webby answered, excited to talk about her town. “I heard that there’s a lot of good resources down there, like gold and iron. Maybe even diamonds.”

“Woah.”

“Yeah, but there are also a bunch of monsters.” Webby’s face fell. “Granny won’t let me go near it.”

“Well that’s dumb. You’re an adult!” 

“I know, I know. I just…” Webby trailed off. For the first time, Lena saw her look conflicted. “Here, right next to it,” Webby pointed at a small building a little to the right of the mineshaft. “That’s the Adventurer’s Guild. You can talk to them about getting something to defend yourself.”

“Thanks Webby.” Lena smiled at her again, much more genuine this time. “I’ll let you know if it’s worth the hype when I’m next in.”

Webby smiled right back at her. “I think I’d enjoy that.”


	4. Waiting Beasts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena explores the mines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've come to accept the fact that some of the chapters will have to vary dramatically in length. In the game, you can spend the whole day doing one thing over and over, or you can go do 7 things.

Lena exited  _ Beakly’s  _ and headed north, up to the mines. She remembered from her… experience with the Junimos the other day that there was magma in those mineshafts somewhere. Searing hot liquid rock seemed like a perfect way to rid herself of Magica’s old evil crap. She now had to help the Junimos of course, but getting the stuff out of her house would make her feel a lot better. 

Her… house?  _ Her _ house?

She was saved the confusing process of diving down that rabbit hole by arriving at the Adventurer’s Guild. Pushing the door open, she was greeted by a familiar bell jingle. She was also greeted by a very unfamiliar and robust. “AH. HELLO FELLOW ADVENTURER!” Lena stopped for a second in shock. The owner of the voice was clearly on the other end of the room, behind a counter similar to Webby’s, but the voice itself was loud enough to be as if it were shouted directly into her ear. She briefly considered magic, but felt nothing from the interior of the shop aside for a few simple enchantments on what were probably weapons behind the counter. Either way, he hadn’t said “new” and “farmer” so he was in Lena’s good books. Ever so slightly.

“Hello…”

“STORKULES!”

“Storkules. I was hoping to buy some equipment to start exploring the mines?” Lena was reaching the end of her savings, but she couldn’t use magic in the mines. She didn’t know enough about her new nature magic to use it combatively if it can be used that way at all. And using that much shadow magic over and over again would make her feel slimy and gross. She had to spend a little bit more for protection. She did buy some of those seeds from Webby though. If all went well, she could sell some to make some cash back and still have enough left over to give the Junimos. 

“EXCELLENT! ALLOW ME TO SHOW YOU OUR WARES! EACH WEAPON COMES WITH A COMPLIMENTARY SHEATH!”

“So it’s free, or it fits the weapon?” Lena snarked back before she could stop herself. Storkules however, only laughed.

“BOTH!”

As Lena reached the counter, she realized that this was just how he was going to be talking from now on, and she was not a fan. Lena was not a fan of loud and expressive in general, which Storkules seemed to fit to a ‘T’. But she could also see he meant well, so she kept those complaints down. Storkules reached underneath the counter and pulled up several different weapons. There were clubs, swords, and daggers. Lena instinctively reached for a dagger, undeniably pleased with the aesthetic and ease of carrying. But she paused and forced herself to think. A dagger would be fast, but she’d also have to get really close to her foe. Clubs were the opposite problem. Long enough to keep away, but also really heavy and slow to swing. Her most practical option was a standard sword. As she looked over her options, and their price tags, her heart sank lower and lower. As she scanned down the price tags, each was out of her price range, all the way until-

_ A wooden sword? What am I, five? I was never five. _

“AH YES, THE WOODEN BLADE.” Storkules exclaimed as she picked it up to examine. “NOT OUR MOST EFFECTIVE CHOICE OF COURSE, BUT VERY AFFORDABLE, AND QUITE SHARP FOR THE PRICE IF I MIGHT ADD.” Lena turned the blade sideways and found that it was indeed very sharp, for a piece of wood. More importantly, it was one of her only options. Her only other choice was a rusty, decrepit old blade that looked like it would snap if she poked the business end too hard. 

“Well, you’ve convinced me. I’ll take this one.” 

Storkules looked at her for a long moment before leaning over the counter and dropping his voice lower to what must be a whisper to him, but sounded like a normal voice to her. “It’s on the house.”

“Wha? Really?” Lena stood there, shocked still once again by the hospitality of this town. 

“You’re new in town.” Ah, there it is. “And for this little, I will gladly aid anyone who wants to test their mettle in the mines.” Straightening back up, he also returned to his normal voice. “SO, ANYTHING ELSE?” 

Lena’s eyes roamed the selection before her eyes fixed on a display. “Are those really steel-toed sneakers?”

“AH YES. NOT AS DEFENSIVE AS THEIR BOOT BRETHREN, BUT A FINE SELECTION FOR THOSE WHO ARE TIGHT ON CASH” quick glance at Lena “AND WANT TO LOOK STYLISH.”

“Well, red isn’t really my color, but steel toes are better than no toes.”

“EXCELLENT!” Storkules slapped them down onto the counter, and Lena passed over the necessary gold. “COME AGAIN ADVENTURER, AND BEST OF LUCK IN THE MINES!” Storkules called after her as she exited the shop. 

Walking the short distance, sword on her shoulder and shoes in her hand, she entered the mine. Thankfully, the first floor looked pretty clear. Taking stock of her surroundings, she noticed an elevator at the back, an old minecart to her left, a strange rock formation to her right, and a hole in the ground dead in front of her. Figuring she’d go clockwise, she jogged over to the minecart and examined it. She gave it a shove but only succeeded in skidding herself back along the floor. It seemed pretty wedged, or depowered or whatever, so Lena hopped up on the rim and changed into the steel toe shoes. They were a little stiff, but that was the point so she couldn’t really complain. Hopping down off the cart, she turned back to it and gave it a gentle tap with her foot. Satisfied with the lack of sensation, she wound up a bit more and put a solid hit on it. She felt the impact this time, but spread out across the steel plate it only felt like one-tenth of what it should feel like. “Nice.” Lena grinned, before really going to town on the cart. She was aiming to put a dent in the cart, and she could swear the metal was starting to bend-

“Should I look into booking you a therapy session Miss de Spell?”

“AAH!” Lena spun around and lost her balance, her head on a dangerous collision course with the minecart behind her. Thankfully, Mayor McDuck seemed to be on the ball, and using the hooked end of his cane he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to her feet. 

“Sorry lass, I didn’t mean to sneak up on ya like that,” Scrooge said, planting his cane down in front of him and looking the tiniest bit embarrassed. 

“It’s Ok.” Lena replied, leaning back against the cart in an effort to salvage her image. A beat of silence passed, and when it became clear Lena would not add anything else, Scrooge picked up the conversation.

“So,” he said crisply, spinning on his heel and walking over to the ladder sticking out of the hole in the ground. “The old mines eh? Seems a bit dangerous.” He glanced over to her out of the corner of his eye. 

“Well, nothing ventured nothing gained.” Lena deflected, not intent on telling Scrooge her true reasons for risking her life down in the monster-infested depths. 

Scrooge kept his eyes on her, and it gave Lena the eerie feeling that he knew more about her than he let on. Lena did not like it at all. 

“Please do be careful Miss de Spell.” 

“Lena.” She muttered under her breath, before speaking up. “Believe me, I’m just as invested in not getting killed as anyone else is.”

Scrooge chuckled softly to himself. “Of course. Good luck Lena!” He called back over his shoulder and exited the cave. Lena still wasn’t sure what was going on with that guy, which she did not like. He seemed nice enough, but those knowing glances put her on edge. Lena did not like it when people be knowing things about her without her telling them about it. With a final uneasy look toward the bright outdoors where Scrooge had exited, she returned to the task at hand. 

Walking over to the elevator, she pressed the call button. Nothing happened. No lights, no  _ ding! _ , nada. She hit it a few more times, as you do if an elevator doesn’t work the first time. But, like all the other times, nothing changed. Huffing in annoyance, she headed over to the weird rocks along the last wall. A couple of swings with her pick told her that the stones were far too dense to be chipped away by what her pick was currently made of. All other options exhausted, Lena turned to the center of the room, where the ladder into the dark sat like a beast with it’s mouth open waiting for it’s prey to willing descend in. But with no other options, descend Lena did. 

 

-

 

The elevator  _ dinged!  _ cheerily as Lena trudged out, nearly falling on her face without a wall to lean on. She was very, very exhausted and it was very late into the night. The mines had been more of a challenge than she realized without proper physical shape and weapon training. The creatures were pretty slow and predictable, but their numbers were great and her sword was not as sharp as steel. She had taken many minor injuries that would heal on their own in time, but their sheer number left her overwhelmed. Thankfully, she discovered that the elevator was indeed working and fully powered. There was just debris piled up in the tunnel. After a quick clearing, it could be used to return to the surface and back down to any cleared floor. Lena had managed to push it down ten floors on her own cunning and determination, but she could feel her vision going spotty against her will. She was just reaching the derelict community center when it hit her. 

_ I’m not gonna make it. _

Quickly running through her options, she made her choice. Adjusting her course, she staggered like a zombie up to  _ Beakly’s _ . Using up her remaining strength, she pounded her fist against the door as hard as she could manage.

And then she passed out on the doormat.


	5. Gearing up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena gets herself more tools to help her complete her magic grocery list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told myself I’d stop with the two-word titles. And then I didn’t

When Lena woke up, it wasn’t like other times. She didn’t slowly come too, blinking and confused. Her eyes simply opened, and she was awake. She remembered everything from the night before, and when she looked around, she found her desperate gamble had paid off. She was sleeping on a couch she was unfamiliar with in what looked like some sort of living room, daylight just beginning to peek through the windows. Sending a silent thanks to the gods, Lena then made her first mistake, attempting to sit up. Her muscles groaned in protest, and Lena couldn’t help but echo the sound with her mouth. Staying out that late, and working her muscles that hard was a dumb idea. She’d have to be more careful next time. Rubbing her eyes, she attempted to rise again, succeeding this time around. Sliding her feet out from the throw blanket she was under to prepare for the Strokulean task of standing up, she noticed her new shoes and backpack were on the floor to her left. Slipping them on first, she braced one hand on the arm of the couch, another on her knee, and slowly rose from the couch. The thought struck her that she probably looked and sounded like she was 80 years old, and she couldn’t help but chuckle. 

Her main task for the day completed, she decided to go thank the fine neighbors who had graciously loaned her a place to crash. Literally. Navigating a couple hallways and doors. She eventually found her way to the front of the shop, where Webby was apparently doing inventory. Clearing her throat, Lena smiled as Webby looked up from her task. 

“Hey, Webbz. Sorry, I kinda dropped in unannounced.”

“Wha? No!” Webby said, putting her hands out and shaking them. Putting them back down on the counter, she vaulted over it as Lena’s eyes went wide. 

_ Why didn’t she just go around? _

Bounding up to stand in front of her, Webby suddenly seemed to lose her nerve, clasping her hands behind her back and rubbing a foot on the ground. “I-I mean it’s ok. You looked pretty worn out. Granny nearly had an aneurysm when she saw you sprawled out on the welcome mat.”

“Yeah, where is she anyway? I half-considered I’d be waking up in a cold hard interrogation room instead of a couch.”

“Hehe. Weelll, she’s still trying to fix the table in there.” Webby muttered to herself, before quickly steamrolling over it. “But she’s out on a supply run for the shop, so it’s just me right now.” Lena grinned down at her. “So you wouldn’t get in trouble if I, say, told what the mines were like?”

“YES.” Webby said, jumping even closer to her, looking at her like Lena had just offered her the best Christmas gift in the world. 

“Well, it wasn’t too-”

“WAIT” Webby shouted as her eyes went wide, “Say right here!” She called over her shoulder as she bolted further into the house. Lena heard several crashes and at least one glass object shattering. Webby came racing back in a moment after, notebook in hand. “Tell me everything.”

“Well…”

 

“That many bats? Really?” Webby’s eyes were wide as dinner plates as she hung off Lena’s every word.

“Really. It’s like they were coming out of the walls.” Lena leaned back against the shelf she was in front of. “But I managed to get through that, and then it was just clear out the elevator, take it back to the surface, stagger over to here, and pass out on your doorstep.” Glancing down at her watch, Lena’s own eyes widened. “Oh shit.” She shouldered her bag and turned back to Webby. “It’s been two hours, and I have a lot of other stuff to do today.”

“Oh! No, it’s Ok! I do too!” Webby shut the notebook and stuffed it in one of her pockets. She looked like she wanted to run back to the inventory, but it would be rude to exit the conversation like that. So instead she bounced on her toes, watching Lena with nerves plain in her eyes. With one last quick smile, Lena put out her fist for a fist bump. Webby smiled back and tapped her fist against Lena’s. 

“See you later Pink. Tell Beakly I say thank you!” Lena called over her shoulder as she jogged for the door. Taking a moment to orient herself, and thanking her common sense for staying up and studying the map one night, Lena set off to the blacksmith. She had a bunch of copper ore and no idea how to make it usable. Pushing the door open, she looked in and saw a tall, slender lady leaning against the counter, blowing bubbles and reading a magazine. Walking up, she cleared her throat. The lady gave her barely a glance until it seemed to dawn on her that a person she had never seen before was standing on the other side of her counter. 

“Well hello there. I don’t believe I’ve met you before.” She grinned, and Lena’s pulse jumped 20 bpm. She simultaneously looked, inquisitive, caring, and dangerous. And now that Lena was close enough, although the lady was thin, solid muscles were visible on her arms and abs, confirming her last observation. 

“Uh, yeah. I’m Lena. I was just in the mines yesterday, and I have a bunch of copper ore I have no idea what to do with.”

“Ah! That’s not a problem. Lena,” she spit out her gum, landing it perfectly in the trashcan on the other side of the counter “my name is Selene, and I have just the thing for you.” Lena took the hand to shake but wasn’t prepared for Selene to walk from behind the counter, hand still tight in her grip. Lena realized she was literally being led somewhere by the hand and felt a blush spread across her face. She couldn’t tell if it was because she was feeling embarrassed, angry, or attracted. Before she could make up her mind, they were there. 

“Here you go. One smelting furnace. Designed ‘em myself.” 

“So...I just use it here or...?”

“Oh gods no!” Selene waved a hand around in front of her face. “You take it home. This one’s on me, and I’ll even throw in the blueprints too. I’m sure someone as resourceful as yourself could make use of them.” Selene gave her that quick glance that Lena was beginning to assume everyone in town had agreed upon doing before she arrived just to piss her off. So she didn't put too much effort into holding her ‘You’re crazy’ look.

“I’m not carrying that.”

Selene snorted into her palm as if a child had just said something hilarious in it’s ignorance, and Lena just about took a pickaxe to her kneecaps. “No, of course not. I’ll have Storkules carry it over for you. He and Launchpad are probably the only ones who can lift it anyway.” Pulling Lena back to the counter, she finished the handshake (were they holding hands that whole time? This lady is out of her mind), and Selene picked up the phone and dialed a number. It rang for a while before Lena heard a  _ clik _ and Selene straightened up. 

“Hello? Storkules? Hey I’ve got a furnace I need delivering, would you mind grabbing it for me? We could do lunch after, my treat. Excellent!” She gave Lena a thumbs up. “Where? Oh I think you know her, she was just in yesterday.” Selene held the phone away from her ear, and not a moment too soon because even Lena winced at the ecstatic “ _ THE NEW ADVENTURER?! _ ” from the other end. Putting the phone back to her ear, she replied “Yep, that’s her…Where to put it?” Selene glanced over at Lena, who half whispered “Anywhere there’s space. I haven’t cleared off most of the ground yet.”

“Anywhere you can fit it, big guy! Ok. Thanks. See you in a bit. Later!” Selene hung up the phone. “He’ll be here in half an hour.” 

“Well tell him I said thanks too, because I have to go see a guy about a fishing rod.”

“That would be Donald! I think he just got back from a big fishing trip too! When you leave the shop-” 

“Ah, thanks for the offer, but I have a map.” Lena interrupted her, holding up the folded brochure. 

“Impressive. Where’d you get that?”

“Webby,” Lena answered automatically, and then cringed a little on the inside for not saying ‘ _ Beakly’s _ ’. A fact that Selene seemed to notice, as one of her eyebrows rose mischievously. “Ah, so you met our own little adventurer huh?”

“LOOK AT THE TIME, SO MUCH TO DO, THANKS FOR THE FURNACE BYE!” Lena rushed back out the door, running a little of the way to the beach before stopping to lean on a nearby tree. Sighing, she thought  _ Man, I really have to stop rushing out on people today.  _ Straightening back up, she finished the walk down to the beach. At this point, she had just accepted that nature was going to be stunning her at every possible turn, so when she got to the beach she decided she would just take it all in. The sunlight reflecting so well off the sea she had to close her eyes. The feel of sand giving way under her feet, the smell of salty water. Brisk wind against her face. Taking a minute more to soak it in, she turned and headed to the only building on the beach. Walking out on the creaky wooden boards of the pier, she turned the corner and stopped. There, in a sailor’s uniform with a line hanging off the edge of the pier, was who she could only assume was Donald Duck. Before she could open her mouth, Donald spoke. 

“What possible reason would someone have to come to this town?” 

“Huh?” Lena asked, caught off guard yet again for the day. When Donald only looked at her out of the corner of his eye, confident that she had heard him, Lena cleared her throat. “Well, my Aunt Magica-”

“You were related to Magica?!” Lena jumped as a frantic voice came from her left. Turning, she saw three identical-looking boys were exiting the shop and quickly running over to her. She took a step back and put her hands up, bracing herself for impact-

“BOYS!” Donald’s voice rang out sharp and clear like a thunderclap, and all four of them froze. Donald was looking sternly at the three boys. “You have somewhere else to be, riiiight?” This clearly wasn’t a question. 

“But Uncle Donald.” the three whined in perfect harmony. 

“Go. I’m sure you’ll have the chance to talk to our town’s new member soon enough.” the boys all grumbled, but did as they were told. Giving Lena studious glances as they walked past, they headed up for the town. 

“Sorry about them. They’re very excited to learn about the world around them.”

“Hey, I can’t blame them. How’d you know I was sticking around though?”

“Well, there’s not much reason to come to Stardew Valley. But there are a couple reasons to stay. What can I help you with?”

“I heard you were the one to come to for fishing advice?”

“That I am.” He lightly yanked the rod in the water for emphasis.

“I need a fishing rod. The cheapest one you have preferably.” Donald raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed and looked out at the ocean. “Look, I’m not exactly wealthy right now. I’m working on it Ok?”

Donald looked at her with an unreadable expression for a long moment, before pulling his line out of the water. “Step into my office.” He said, opening the door to his shop and holding it for her. Stepping in, Lena noticed how the space was much smaller than the other shops she had been in. There was just a small counter with lures under the glass, a couple of rods hanging on the wall behind it, and a minifridge for what Lena was guessing was bait. Donald rummaged around behind the counter, before coming up with a stained bamboo rod. “Here you are. She’s old, worn, and not too fancy. But she’s sturdy and unbreakable. And she’s yours.”

Lena pulled out her wallet. “How much?”

Donald reached across the counter, gently taking the hand hovering above her wallet. Turning it over, he placed the rod in her hands and wrapped her fingers around it. “That much.”

Lena stared at the hand holding her new fishing rod before a second before her feelings finally bubbled over. “WHAT IS IT WITH ALL YOU PEOPLE? WHY ARE YOU ALL GIVING ME FREE STUFF?” Lena was pacing around in the small space, waving her arms around. Donald had ducked behind the counter to avoid being brained by the swinging fishing rod. Thankfully there wasn’t a hook attached to it yet. “THIS IS BULLSHIT! DO YOU WANT ME TO OWE YOU? IS THAT IT?” Lena turned to Donald, panting. 

Donald gave her another second just to be sure the rod wouldn’t be swung again, before standing back up and clearing his throat. “Well, uh, I can’t speak for other people you got free stuff from, but for one thing that old bamboo rod isn’t too great. It can’t handle bait or a lure. Besides,” Donald seemed to look far off for a second. “like I said, there aren’t that many reasons to come to Stardew Valley. Pretty much everyone here knows what it’s like to be ‘not exactly wealthy’.” When he didn’t get a reply, and his words didn’t seem to have any impact, Donald just sighed. “Look, before he became Mayor of this town Scrooge was actually a wildly successful businessman, and he had a saying. ‘When you get the answer you want, hang up the phone’ Take the rod. Go do some fishing. Keep the craft alive. The next one will be the normal price if it’s that important to you. Deal?”

“...Deal.”

 

-

 

Lena couldn’t help but quietly chuckle to herself at the sight before her. Storkules, true to his word, had brought over the smelter and left it “anywhere”. “Anywhere” in this case being smack dab in the middle of her front steps. “Well I guess that one’s on me,” Lena muttered to herself as she cleared a path to the left side of her house, opposite side from the selling bin. Then, grunting and straining, she shoved it around the corner into it’s new spot. Throwing in some coal and ore, she left it running and turned to face the mess that was her front lawn. It was time to start her garden. First, she pulled out her pickaxe, ax, and sickle and got to work clearing out a spot. Next, she took the hoe and dragged to through the dirt, pulling up fresh soil and making spots for the seeds. That combined with the chopping left her pretty drained, but thankfully all she had to do left was drop the seeds in the dirt not too close to each other, cover them back up and water them. Yardwork combined with smelting passed the time quickly, and by the time Lena was done, it was already around 9:30. Although she was dead tired, and even the minimal softness of Magica’s...her...she was getting a new bed tomorrow. She wanted to sleep, but she still had one stop planned. Taking a deep breath, Lena headed into town, letting her feet carry her and her mind wander until she was standing outside the  _ Sunchaser  _ saloon. All of her anxiety around strangers was boiling inside her like a cauldron about to explode, but one thought kept pushing through. 

_ Don’t be like her. _

Steeling herself, she pushed open the door.

The building was probably the biggest she had been in yet, aside from maybe the community center. There was a long bar stretching across the far wall of the room, with tables scattered around the floor. A jukebox sat in one corner, chirping along on some piccolo tune, and an alarmingly large bear statue sat in the other corner, standing on it’s hind legs as if it were about to plant her in the dirt. As her eyes panned the room, she realized that everyone had stopped what they were doing and were just staring at her. That was enough for the cauldron in her to boil over, and she was just about to turn and head back out through th-

“Lena!” She stopped cold at the familiar voice, and turned back around to see Webby running over to her. “You’re here!” 

“Yeah, figured I’d give this place a shot.” She shrugged, hoping that the four voice cracks she heard in that sentence were just in her mind. 

“Huey Dewey and Louie are here! Come play pool with us!”

Lena looked around the saloon. Webby coming over seemed to have given her at least a minor stamp of approval, as everyone had gone back to what they were doing. Her eyes caught on some familiar faces. Beakly, Donald and Selene were all sitting at a table, staring at her. She gave them a small wave. Beakly didn’t wave back, Selene waved with a smirk on her lips, and Donald flashed her a thumbs up. 

“Well, how could I say no to a face like that?” 

Webby squealed at a pitch that made Lena’s ears hurt, before grabbing her arm and dragging her into an adjasent room, what looked to be the game room. Arcade cabinets lined one of the walls and a foosball-pool table combo took up the middle of the floor. On the pool table, she saw the three triplets she had met at Donald’s earlier. One, the one in red, was lining up a shot, and the other two were observing. As they walked up, he took his shot, but missed every ball, bouncing off a few bumpers and landing nowhere interesting.

“Damn!” He shouted standing up and throwing his baseball cap down in anger. The other two  _ tsk _ ed. “You know the rules bro. Total miss is an automatic loss.” 

“Yeah yeah, I got it.” He answered sullenly and began collecting the balls to rerack. 

“Lena, these are Huey” she pointed to the red one “Dewey” blue one “and Louie! Boys, this is-” 

“The relative of Magica.” Dewey intoned, steepling his fingers. Webby turned to Lena in shock, and she quickly explained. 

“I went to go talk to Donald, and they overheard some things that WEREN’T MEANT FOR THEM on their way out.”

“Old news,” said Louie, waving his hand in front of his face. “Tell us more about Magica!”

“No way.”

“What? Come on!”

“Why on earth would I?”

As the boys struggled to come up with a reason, a plan began to for in Lena’s mind. Grinning cooly, Lena interrupted their brainstorming. “How about this? I’ll play you for it. You win, I’ll tell you something you want to know about Magica.”

Huey and Dewey high fived with excited grins, willing to take the deal right off the bat. Louie, always the shrewd businessman, wasn’t so eager. “And if you win?”

“If I win...you have to come help me on the farm.” 

“What?” The three exclaimed. 

“Ok, it’s not much of a farm yet. You’d mainly be chopping trees, busting rocks, and mowing grass. We’ll say...four hours. But if you do six, I’ll throw in lunch halfway through on me.” 

The triplets eyed her up, and then turned to face each other in a huddle. A couple of heated whispers later, and they all turned back to her. 

“Deal.”

 

“WHAT?” Louie shouted as Lena sunk the eight ball, netting her the third of three wins. “HOW DID YOU DO THAT?”

“Maaaagic.” Lena wiggled her fingers at the young man.

Out of everyone’s eyesight, Webby quietly choked on her drink. 

“Really?” 

“No. I lived in the city, pool in bars is like one of the four exciting things to do.”

“What are the other three?” Huey came up behind his brother, patting him on the back consolingly. 

“Making fun of tourists, any form of electronic escapism, and graffiti.”

“You did graffiti?” The four exclaimed, jaws hanging open.

“I guess you’ll never know,” she smirked at them. “I expect to see all of you sometime next week. Same day, different days, doesn’t matter to me.”

“Rrrrgghh.” Louie grumbled, before turning to Webby. “Webby, you have to play her. I need to know if she did graffiti!”

“Wh-wha? No no, I can’t! Granny would never let me be out so long unsupervised!”

“Pleeeaaase?” the triplets gave her their best attempts at puppydog eyes.

“Besides, I’m sure we can come to a  _ different arrangement _ .” Lena leaned up against the table, whispering the last couple words right next to Webby’s ear.

“Webbigail!”

Sighing, Lena turned around and forced a (slightly pained) smile on her face. “Ms. Beakly. Nice seeing you again. Thanks for letting me crash on your couch.”

“Not a problem.” Beakly gave her a cold stare. “See to it that it doesn’t happen again.”

In the background, Lena could faintly hear the boys were losing their minds. But she was too busy in a face-off to comment. 

“Webbigail. We’re leaving.” The tone left no room for debate, and although Lena desperately wanted to for her, Lena knew which hills to die on in order to win the war, and this was not one of them. 

“Shame.” she muttered, taking Webby’s hand in her own. “I guess that I’ll just have to see you again. Until next game, Pink.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, in this story HDL are 19, Webby is 21 and Lena is 22.


	6. Love Doctors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena gets some romance advice, whether she wants it or not.

The next few days passed with little eventfulness. Lena went up to visit Fenton the carpenter about that new bed she was looking for, and discovered that beds were REALLY expensive. So she’ll have to grit her teeth and bear the one her late “Aunt” left behind for a little while longer. She pushed further in the mines a little more every day, and she knew a change was coming. She could feel something cool and sharp in her forest magic coming from a few floors below her. She visited the Junimos a couple more times, and even finished her first bundle of ingredients for a ritual. It turns out that one of them just needed things she could pick up off the grass. The Junimo brought it over to a small hut in the corner of the main room she had thought was just a pile of sticks and stones. After, it returned with a gift for her. A byproduct of the minor ritual needed to prepare the ingredients, the Junimo passed her a large handful of mixed seeds. Thanks to a tip from Webby about fertilizer, and a couple of minutes of banging her head on the counter while Webby looked on with concern, she had a plan for her garden the next day and enough time left in the season to make it work. 

 

-

 

Lena was just stepping out onto the cleared out part of her yard when she heard dirt and leaves crunching up to her. Turning, she saw the three triplets in Donald’s care approaching. “You guys here to work?” Three nods. “Wow. I was pretty sure you weren’t going to show. I wasn’t going to hold you to it or anything.” The second the words left her mouth, Louie turned on his heel and started walking back to town. But before he could get more than a step or two, his brother’s hands shot out and grabbed either side of his hoodie. 

“A bet’s a bet.” They say in sync, stopping in front of Lena and turning their brother back around, giving him a glare. 

“Yeah yeah,” Louie sighed. “Bet’s a bet.”

“You here for the four hours, or the six-plus-lunch?”

“Six-plus-lunch.”

“You got it. Here’s the plan.” Lena pulled out her pickax, scythe, and ax and held them out to the boys. “One triplet cuts grass, one chops trees, and one breaks rocks. I don’t care if you want to switch jobs, just as long as everyone’s doing something.” 

The boys chose their weapons, Louie muttering sarcastically under his breath “Thanks, boss.” Lena elected to ignore it because they were getting a pretty shit job if she were being honest. 

“Wait here a second.” Going back into her house, she reemerged a few minutes later with four refillable water bottles. Tossing three to the siblings, she kept one for herself. “Drink up. Especially you.” She leveled a look at Huey. “If you insist on wearing that hoodie.”

“Hard yes.”

“Alright. Your brain cells man, but don’t be shy to drink. No one’s getting heatstroke on my farm. After an hour and a half, take a half hour break. After three, lunch. Four and a half, another break, and after six you’re home free. Sound like a plan?” Lena hefted her hoe onto her own shoulder, intent on planting the seeds she received from the Junimo last night. “Put all the stuff you get in that green chest over there.” Three more nods. Setting an alarm on her watch, Lena dropped her hoe down into the dirt. “Let’s get to work.”

 

Lena had to hand it to Louie, he did not budge on the hoodie. The thing was drenched in sweat and might need to be burned instead of washed, but he would not take it off his body. His brothers didn’t seem fazed by this, or the fact that he looked like how Lena felt after her first trip in the mines. They said he was fine, and the only reason Lena went along with it is that they were going to have a nice hour off their feet and a good meal. They worked hard during the first hour and a half, and gladly collapsed against the shady side of her house and accepted water refills when their break came. Lena gave them a half hour, because she wasn’t evil, before helping them all off the ground and sending them back out for the next quarter of their day.

“Launchpad!” Lena shouted as she threw the doors to the saloon open. “Get these poor gentlemen some food. They’ve been doing hard labor for three hours, and have three hours more to look forward to.” Looking at the three shambling teens behind her, she added: “It’s on me.” 

“One Huey, Dewey and Louie special coming up. And you Lena?” 

“Double grilled cheese with a chocolate milkshake and a salad.” 

“You got it!” The four dropped down onto their barstools as Launchpad strolled back to the kitchen to make up the meal. 

“You guys have your own specials here?” Lena asked, turning to the boys seated to her left, currently Huey and Louie

“We’re here a lot, everyone has their own specials. I’m sure you’ll figure one out too.”

“I’M SORRY, HOW ARE YOU NOT DYING?” Louie sat up and turned to Lena in a huff. “You’re the gothiest goth I know! You’re wearing all black, heavy clothing and doing intense yard work on a spring day! Yous should be dead!”

Lena didn’t particularly want to get into her biology with Louie, especially since she didn’t know it herself. Magica sure never saw fit to tell her, and she was never seriously hurt or ill enough to go to a hospital. She wasn’t even sure if she HAD muscles and all that, all she knew was that food went in, and energy plus...the rest came out. Just like everyone else. So she just threw on the confident tone she wore like a comfortable coat and replied with “Hey, I’m no slouch Greenscreen. And besides, it’s rude to talk to your boss like that.”

“No Webby today?” Launchpad interrupted as he shouldered his way through the kitchen door with their orders. While he didn’t seem that bright, Lena admitted that he had probably the fastest service she’d ever seen. 

“She didn’t get roped into the bet.” Louie muttered bitterly. 

“Hey, you can blame Beakly for that.” Lena put up her hands. “I tried.”

“Speeeaking of Webby and the bet,” Huey butted in, leaning around Louie to look at her. “What’s with the moves you were putting on her a couple of days ago?”

“What moves?” Lena brushed off, desperately trying to play innocent.

“Oh don’t give us that crap. You practically kissed the back of her hand on the way out of here back then.” 

“Yeah, and while it’s pretty funny to see her all frazzled like that, you gotta tone back on the charm there Cassanova.”

“Flustered Webby is fun to watch-”

“Very fun.”

“-and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone get under Beakly’s skin so much, but it won’t get you anywhere.”

“Oh?” Lena asked, picking up her sandwich and taking a bite.

“Yeah.” Louie took over. “You have to be genuine. She’d probably kill to do what we’re being forced to do right now.”

“My yardwork?”

“Hang out with you.”

“Ouch. Low blow.” She said, nudging Louie with an elbow. 

“No but really,” Huey spoke up. “Just spend time with her every now and then and she’ll be carving hearts into trees in no time.”

“What am I supposed to do, just go ‘Hey, come to my farm on the outskirts of town, just the two of us little girl~.’” Lena dropped into a creepy voice and chilled herself with how much it sounded like Magica to her.

“Yeah pretty much.” Dewey took a gulp out of his glass, ignoring the straw. “Look, I know small town shop employee doesn’t scream capable, but Webby is ‘no slouch’ either. Her grandma used to be an international spy, and she’s been teaching Webby everything she knows.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. We’re pretty sure they’re here for some sort of Witness Protection thing, but Webby won’t spill it.”

“The point is, she could probably kick the asses of everyone in this building at once. Launchpad included.”

“It’s true.” Launchpad spoke up, leaning out the window to the kitchen. “I once took out the trash late one night and got too close to her house. She thought I was a burglar and nearly broke three of my fingers.” Launchpad seemed to have no trouble sharing this story, doing so as if he were talking about how many miles he ran that morning.

“Exactly. So don’t go all ‘Oh, I’m some big dark bad luck monster wooing an innocent country angel, oh woe is me’ on us. Webby’s not a fool.” Lena gripped her fork so hard she could feel the edge of the handle leaving an imprint on her palm. She hoped that her hand wasn’t shaking hard enough to give her away, because Huey had no idea how close to home he hit with that one. In her panic to move the conversation along, she let a vital piece of information slip. 

“Well, there was that one thing-” Lena clamped her mouth shut, but it was too late. The triplets had their eyes glued to her, their food abandoned. “No.” She said, but they only leaned in closer. “Absolutely not! I’m not telling you any-fine goddammit!” The three boys cheered, and Lena rolled her eyes at their overexcitement. “I have to go clear out my old city apartment next week, and there’s NO WAY I’m bringing you three.” She spoke up before the boys could open their mouths to ask. “Webby can be sworn to secrecy, and if she’s as strong as you say she’d be a great help moving the furniture.” Huey, Dewey and Louie began bouncing up and down in their stools, giddy at all the possibilities. “BUT the only reason I’m telling you this,” Lena interrupted once again “is because Beakly would sooner cut off her own hand than allow it.” That seemed to calm the boys down, as they all nodded in solemn agreement. For a second, the atmosphere around the counter was morose, until Huey jumped up with an “Aha!” The other three turned to look at him curiously. Speaking to his brothers, he rubbed his hands conspiratorially 

“I think it’s time we do  _ that thing  _ we’ve been planning.” For a second, the Dewey and Louie stared at him dumbfounded until whatever code he was speaking got through to them. 

“That!? We were saving that for an emergency!” Dewey exclaimed. 

“We can only do that once! You know she’ll figure out it was us!” 

“Uh, what’s going on?” Lena tried to cut in but was ignored. 

“Come on, for Webby! And a lesser extent her.” Huey jerked his thumb over to Lena.

“Hey!”

The other two moaned and groaned for a little while longer, but eventually caved under Huey’s unwavering glare. Nodding their agreement, Huey turned back to Lena. “We can get Beakly out of the house for a day. All you have to do is convince Webby to be a little rebellious.”

Lena put down the gold for their bill as they got up to get back to the farm. “I’m not sure who has the harder job then. Especially since I still don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Huey answered. “Just give us the day you’re going, and we’ll have Beakly busy for the whole thing.”

“Look!” Dewey shouted, grabbing Huey’s hoodie and pointing. They all turned, but there was nothing besides the bus stop.

“Uuuuhhhh…” Huey started, but was cut off by Dewey running off.

“There was a cat!” And sure enough, as he rounded the trunk of a tree, a cat came darting around the other side. Lena raised an eyebrow as Dewey chased the cat around the clearing, content with letting this go on for a couple more minutes before interrupting. 

“You know you’re just going to be more tired later!” She eventually called, “You still have another half-day of work!” 

Dewey stopped in his tracks. “Crap, you’re right.” Heading back over to the group, he turned his head at the sound of the laughter. “Yeah, well let’s see you asshats do better!”

The other two brothers continued to laugh at him, but Lena just shook her head. “Well, for starters,” she cut off the teasing “you don’t chase cats. At least not at a full sprint.” Crouching, she pulled a piece of her salad out of her leftovers bag and held out her arms. “You sit still, and let them come to you if they want to.” They only had to wait a moment before the cat poked it’s head from around the tree. Slowly, it crept out from behind the tree and across the clearing until it was nibbling at the lettuce in her hand. After it had gotten it’s fill, it rubbed the side of it’s head against the heel of her hand and let out content purrs. Gently wrapping her hands around it’s shoulders, she lifted it up into her arms.

“OH COME ON!” Jumping and whirling around, and ignoring the claws now digging into her shoulder,  Louie had his arms out like he was praising the heavens and all three of the brothers were staring at her with their jaws agape. “Where was this a couple days ago? I can practically hear every femme lesbian in a 20-mile radius swooning into a chair!”

“I’m pretty sure that’s still just Webby.” Huey muttered, more to himself than anyone in particular. 

“The point still stands.”

“Alright alright. You’re back on the clock, no more burning time.” Lena ushered them the rest of the way toward the farm. “Gossip about my love life is break-time only.” Grumbling and groaning, the triplets went to collect their tools and bottles and resumed their work. Lena went to pick up her hoe and realized she was still holding the cat. Turning to look at it, she weighed the pros and cons before sighing and dropping it on the ground. “Guess I’m buying cat food tomorrow.”

 

-

 

Dropping 500 g into each twin’s hand, Lena said “Well done boys.”

The boys looked down at their palms, and Dewey spoke up. “I thought this was a bet.”

“It was. But you did good work, and you always tip the server.” Lena looked out over her farm. The boy’s effort combined with her own meant that about half of her farm had been cleared away, save a few particularly solid rocks and tree stumps. “Now go home.” She began shooing them off her land.

“Hey hey alright alright we’re going! Remember, give us the day you need, we’ll get Beakly out of the way!” Dewey called over his shoulder as they ran back down the road.

“Yeah, sure.” Lena waved them off. Sighing, she turned to her new cat. “What am I gonna do with those three breathing down my neck about Webby?”

“Date her I guess.”

“Easy for you to say.” Lena strolled back over to her house and held the door open for the cat. “Your life isn’t even a little hard. You don’t even have thumbs.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm open to suggestions on Cat's name btw.


	7. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena goes back to the city for the last time for a long time.

Summer had just begun when Lena called up the boys. She had reserved the moving truck for the third day of the season, so that was the day she would be making her trip. The triplets reassured her of their cryptic plan, and that Beakly would be out of the house for “at least six hours, probably closer to eight.” Moderately uncomfortable with this plan, Lena took her comfort in the fact that there was no way the boys could do any lasting damage to Beakly or anything she owned for fear of retribution that would make the gods shudder.    
Lena felt guilty that she had spent a whole season and barely helped the Junimos. She had been selling pretty much everything she found, grew, or otherwise gained. She had saved none of it for the Junimo rituals. She told herself that she was just getting herself set up and after this last step of requiring her old furnishings, she would be all set to put her energy into helping the woodland spirits regain their home. The day before the trip, Lena spent her day in the mines, until she managed to reach a floor covered in frost and ice. The magma was close, she could feel it. But she was out of time, so under the cover of night, she loaded up her backpack as much as she could with all of Magica’s instruments and tools, and made several trips to the unoccupied frozen level. If Webby was going to help her move her things into her new house, she didn’t have to see the dizzyingly large amount of enchanted weapons and tools piled in the corner. That would be kind of hard to explain. 

 

Lena stepped out onto her porch and stretched her arms above her head, mentally preparing herself for her day. When she opened her eyes, she startled back a bit. There, about a foot from her face, a hummingbird hovered. Tilting it’s head, it regarded her curiously. 

“What’s up?” Lena asked it. However before it could even respond, or attempt to, Lena waved her hands in front of her face. “What am I saying? No, we’re not doing this. I’m not a Disney Princess. Go back to your regular bird life.” Turning, she stepped down off her porch and walked off to town. The hummingbird watched her go, before zipping away. 

Lena stood before the door to  _ Beakly’s  _ and took a deep breath. She had a plan, but she had been so busy earning the money for this trip she hadn’t really spoken to Webby at all, save a couple of quick chats. Gritting her teeth, she pushed open the door. There sat Webby, behind the counter as reliably as the sun rising in the morning. Today she seemed to be carving something into the side of a pencil. Or sculpting something out of a pencil? Lena wasn’t sure. When the bell chimed, Webby looked up and quickly dropped the pencil and hid the knife, trying to look attentive. When she saw it was Lena though, she visibly relaxed. “Hi Lena!”

“Hey Webby. How’s it going?”

“It’s Ok. Something went wrong with Grandma’s truck though.”

“Oh?” Lena kept her expression calm, but she had a sneaking suspicion the boys were involved. 

“Yeah, it’s really weird. She usually keeps it so well maintained, but it wouldn’t even start. She had to call a tow truck to bring it to a mechanic.”

“Really? There’s a mechanic around here?”

“No.”

“Oooh.” Lena winced.

“Yeah she’s gonna be gone for most of the day.” Lena wasn’t sure if she was going to kill those boys or not, but she definitely wasn't going to waste the opportunity they gave her. “Anyway, want something specific?” Lena refocused on Webby, smiled, and dropped a hand on the explorer’s pack. 

“Right here.”

Webby lit up. “Really? It’s so expensive though.”

“True, but it’ll be worth it to carry around so much more stuff.” Lena laid the change in Webby’s hand, ignoring her heart’s attempts to pound out of her ribcage. “I, uh, I was actually wondering if you could help me try it out.”

Webby gave her a questioning look. “Huh?”

“Uh, I mean I was going to head to my old apartment today and move it all into my house here. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. You know, see the city?” Lena hated sounding unsure of herself, and ending on a question was a surefire way to do it. But if Huey Dewey and Louie were to be believed, then toning back the charm was the best chance she had of a genuinely good relationship with Webby. 

It seemed to be working too. Webby’s eyes were practically the size of dinner plates, and Lena felt the urge to put out her hands in case she fell off the chair. But soon her face fell, and Lena’s heart with it. “I, I can’t. I would love to-” she gave Lena a look she wasn’t quick enough to read, but she got the feeling Webby almost wanted Lena to kidnap her and take her there ‘forcefully’ “-but I can’t leave the store.”

“Really? It can’t be closed one day outside the schedule?” Lena tried to avoid sounding like a whiny child, but she really wanted this time with Webby dammit.

“Granny will find out.” Webby looked down at the floor, just as sad as Lena…. “Unless...” Webby started, eyes widening as a plan began to take root in her mind. 

“Unless what?”

“What’s the plan? For the trip, like what’s the timeline?”

“Well, we take the bus over to the train station and take that to the city. After that, we walk over to the truck rental place and drive the truck over to my place. Load up the truck, lunch if we have time, and then drive it all the way back here. Quick dump all the stuff at my house, and you’re clear by 7:30, 8 max.” Lena rattled through the plan she had brewed up. 

“That could work. That could work.” Webby began muttering to herself, hopping off the stool behind the counter, and pacing back and forth. 

“Hey, uh, still not sure what’s going on.” Lena tried to interrupt Webby’s thoughts, but it was clear she wasn’t being listened to. It was even more clear when Webby stopped her pacing and whirled around to her with a determined look in her eyes.

“I need to make a call!” Webby practically shouted in her face and lept back over the counter (of course) to a corded phone on the wall. Pulling it off, she dialed a number and put it up to her ear, bouncing nervously in place. 

“Hello?.. Hi, yeah it’s me. Can you watch the store for the day? I have to help a friend with something...Who? It’s…..” Webby stretched out the word, shooting a quick glance at Lena. When she nodded her head, Webby continued. “It’s Lena... Yes, the new farmer… You can make it? Awesome! I owe you one!... The sooner the better. Thank you!”  Webby hung up the phone and turned to Lena. “I’ll go get ready. I can make it! Oh, I’m going to the city! This is so exciting!” Webby dashed off into the house, and Lena couldn’t help but smile. Lena didn’t feel that same wonder over the concrete jungle, but Lena had a feeling that when they arrived Webby would be just as-

The door behind her burst open and Lena startled and whirled around.  

Outside, away from everyone’s view, roots began writhing and twisting under the dirt, creeping toward the house. But then Lena saw that it was just a girl, maybe Webby’s age, panting with her hands on her knees, and the roots stilled. 

“You must be the sub in.” Lena walked over and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Are you ok? I’ve never seen someone so eager to man a counter be-”

Before she could finish, a piece of paper was shoved into her free hand. Giving the girl a curious glance, Lena unfolded it. There, in messy, rushed handwriting, the words TAKE HER TO A MUSEUM were scrawled haphazardly across the page. Lena had just enough time to process the words and start a “Wh-” before it was ripped back out of her hand and stuffed into a pocket.

“All ready!” Webby “Thank you so much, Violet! Wow, you got here fast.” Webby looked at her friend in concern. “Are you Ok?”

“It seemed...like time….was of the essence... _ guh _ .” Violet panted. “I’ll be alright...Just go on.”

“Well, Ok.” Webby slowly walked past, still worried. But after a thumbs up from the exhausted girl, she cheered up and headed out, Lena close behind. 

“So, Violet?” Lena asked as they strolled to the bus stop. 

“Oh, she’s apprenticing under Gyro.”

“Gyro the scientist who lives out in the woods?”

“Yep, that’s him!” Webby dropped her coins in the fare box and took her ticket. “Mayor Scrooge said it was safer if he did all his experiments out there where no one can get hurt.”

“Wait, I live out there!” 

“Heh, yeah he tried to contact Magica and ask, but she wouldn’t answer. We might want to talk to him about that now that someone who actually cares lives there.” Webby’s eyes went wide as soon as the words left her mouth, and she frantically tried to backpedal. “Not that your aunt didn’t care or anything-”

“No, it’s Ok. She probably didn’t.” Lena interrupted, staring out the window as the bus pulled away. To her left, Webby leaned forward and tried to get a good look at her face. 

“You, ah, want to talk about it?” Lena didn’t answer for a long moment, and Webby’s eyes went wide and opened her mouth to backpedal again before Lena waved a hand.

“It’s not a problem that you asked, before you say it. It’s just...really complicated. I can’t really talk about it now, but... you’re definitely someone I would tell it to when I can.” Webby smiled and leaned back in the seat. 

“That sounds great to me.” Lena turned to smile at her, and leaned back in the seat too. They had a long trip ahead of them. It didn’t hurt to take a rest when you had the chance.

 

-

 

“Oh dammit.” Lena muttered as she looked out the glass windows on the subway doors.

“What? What is it?” Webby asked, trying to twist her neck to look, without moving her feet. For some reason. 

“I forgot what time it would be when we got here, now.” Lena grimaced as the doors opened, and put one arm around Webby’s shoulders to keep them from separating. 

Webby’s brain bluescreened at the contact, and all she could manage was a “Huh?” And then the car was flooded with people. In almost no time flat, she was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with five people, and practically wedged against Lena. “Rush hour.” Lena cursed as the people pressed in. “Are you ok? I know it’s a bit too late to ask, but any claustrophobia?”

“No no.” Webby gave her a thumbs up to prove it. “Although this is a far cry from the open, clean air I’m used to.”

“Yeah, I don’t remember it smelling this bad. I think I’m going native.” Lena joked. Unfortunately, no one had time to laugh when the train hit a bump and Webby, who had not gotten her city legs yet and was not prepared, lost her grip on the bar she was holding. Thankfully, through some insane coincidence, Lena had not yet taken her arm from around Webby’s shoulder, so the two ended up in a mini-dip in the middle of the train. They both looked at each other with wide eyes for a second, before Lena pulled Webby upright and cleared her throat. Rubbing the back of her neck, she tried to look anywhere but Webby’s eyes. 

“Sorry. Sorry.”

“No no, it’s fine. No big deal.” Webby went to wave the concern away but forgot how tight the space around her was and only ended up gently smacking the person next to her.

“Ooh, I’m sorry!” But they barely even looked at her, so she dropped it. Turning back to Lena, she raised an eyebrow, but Lena only shrugged in return.

“Welcome to the city.”

 

“Hey uh, Webby? Weeeeby~” Webby didn’t respond, her head whipping around in an effort to see as much as possible. They had just gotten out of the subway tunnel, and Webby seemed to be trying her best to look in every direction simultaneously. Lena regretted they couldn’t stay until nighttime when the lights came on. “I love the enthusiasm, really do, but if we want to keep on schedule we should really keep walking.” Nothing. “Well, Ok. Iiii’m just goooonnnaaa…” Lena slowly snaked her hand into Webby’s, waiting to see if Webby would jerk away, or put her in a judo hold or something. When nothing happened, she gently began pulling her along. Webby followed like a puppy on a leash. “Ok, I guess this works.”

 

After much more gentle pulling, a quick stop at the moving company, and the slowest driving Lena had ever experienced (but still expected), they arrived at Lena’s building. Thanking the gods her apartment was only on the second floor, Lena held her old keys for the first time in a whole season. Trying to ignore the choked up feeling in her throat you get from moving on, she unlocked her door and opened it for Webby.

“Wow! It’s, uuuhhh…”

“Spartan?”

“Minimalist.”

“Thanks.” 

Lena looked around her old place for the first time in a while. Webby was being generous when she said it was minimalist. Sure there was furniture, chairs and the couch and the TV, but there was practically no decoration anywhere. Nothing that really signaled the apartment as hers. The only thing she could think of was the few band posters she had in her room, and even then it wasn’t much. 

“This should be pretty fast.” Webby toured around the room, getting an eye for what they had to load into the truck. 

“Yeah, that’s why I figured we might have some time to explore around a bit before driving back to the Valley.”

“REALLY?”

Lena chuckled at the enthusiasm. “Only if we stick to it.”

“Well then what are we waiting for?” Webby exclaimed before putting her hand around the edge of her coffee table and lifting it off the floor like an empty pizza box. Lena’s jaw fell open and stared. This was going to be faster than she thought. 

 

The pair sat against the wall of the empty space and drank from their water bottles, taking a quick break after the effort of packing up her apartment. Lena was mildly out of breath, but not as much as she thought. Maybe all that time down in the mines and working her farm was starting to pay back some muscle gains. Webby, of course, was unaffected, only sitting against the wall for Lena’s sake. 

“Sorry I dropped the mattress on you,” Lena said for the umpteenth time. It was one of the last few things to move, and she couldn’t quite get a good grip on it with her tired arms, and it slipped right out of her hands. 

“No no! It was no big deal. I was already at the bottom of the stairs, so it just felt like being pinned to the wall by a particularly rectangular panda or something.” Webby giggled a bit at her own comparison, and Lena followed suit. They sat for another moment, Lena regaining her breath, Webby enjoying the company. Taking a deep breath, Lena chugged the rest of her bottle and stood up. Turning to face Webby, she held out a hand to help her up. 

“Ready to go? I have a destination I think you might like.”

Webby stared at the offered hand for a second before snapping out of whatever came over her. “Uh, yeah sure.” Taking the hand, Lena hauled her to her feet. “More train?”

“Nope. Just a few blocks of walking. Try to keep your jaw off the floor though, yeah? The friction might slow us down.”

“Heh, sure. I’ll try.” Webby rubbed the back of her neck, looking to the side sheepishly.

“I mean not that I don’t love the enthusiasm! It’s nice to see someone so enthr-uh enamored by the city. But you know.”

“Yeah yeah. Timetable.” Webby held the door onto the street open for Lena, who graciously accepted. Stepping out, she put her hands on her hips and took an exaggerated breath. 

“Yep. Still smells awful.” Behind her, Webby dissolved into a fit of giggles. Turning back with a genuine smile, Lena continued “And that’s saying something, considering I work on a farm.” Webby wiped a tear out of her eye and cleared her throat. Straightening up, she donned a mock-serious voice. “Which way, madam?”

Turning to her right, Lena took an extended step forward and pointed down the street. “Onward!”

 

Webby stared with wide eyes up at the building in front of them. 

“I thought we agreed you weren’t going to do this?”

“Can’t help it.” She answered Lena’s joking question. It wasn’t until Lena put a hand on her shoulder and shook it lightly that Webby snapped out of it. “AN AEROSPACE MUSEUM? REALLY?”

Lena leaned back and took a quick look around, noticing a few curious glances but thankfully nothing more. “Yes. Do you perhaps want to head inside?”

Webby’s only response was to light up like an angel and sprint for the door. Lena followed behind at a light jog, already planning on how to thank Violet. When she got inside, she saw Webby bouncing on the balls of her feet right by the door.

“I don’t actually know how to get in.” 

Lena chuckled. “Well, you see that archway-hallway type thing over there?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, you walk through that. And then you’re in.”

“Wait that’s it? No ticket or anything?” 

“It’s a public museum. Completely free.” Webby looked up at her like she had just been given the greatest Christmas gift in the world. Lena smiled back and gestured over to the arch. “Go. Run free. No waIT DON’T ACTUALLY RUN!”

 

Lena browsed the calendars absentmindedly as she reflected on their hour or two in the museum. It seemed that Webby almost didn’t need the trip to Lena, as she knew what seemed like everything the exhibits were trying to teach her, usually finishing any plaques that Lena read aloud as she did. She might’ve even known more, showing Lena the correct takeoff and landing sequences in the fighter jet cockpit they both squeezed into. But there was no denying the look of wonder on her face Lena was running out of ways to describe. Wait  _ Beakly’s  _ had a bulletin board with a calendar right on it. With birthdays, and events and stuff. She didn’t need a calendar. Strolling further down the wall, she began looking at a paperweight shaped like a globe. She was just finding the spot where Stardew Valley was roughly located when she heard “Hey, what about this?” behind her. Turning around, she actually felt her heart skip a beat. Webby was standing next to a rack, wearing a flight jacket and doing a heroic pose in the mirror. 

“Yes. Absolutely. No question.” Lena felt her mouth move before she could even send it the words. Walking up behind Webby, she smiled at her in the mirror. “Fashion designers would pay you to wear that jacket.”

“Oh, uh, thank you.” Webby blushed and looked down to the price tag. Sucking air in through her teeth, she winced. “That’s kind of expensive.” 

Lena caught a look at it over her shoulders, and lightly grabbed Webby’s shoulders and steered her toward the cash register. “It’s on me.”

“Lena, you can’t! It’s so expensive.”

“You’re helping me move my furniture. It’s the least I could do.” Lena didn’t feel the need to bring up the ulterior motives behind her decision. She was pretty sure she was going to be seeing Webby in that jacket in her dreams, and not just the PG ones. 

“I don’t think Granny would like it…”

“You can hide it from her.”

“Not from her.”

“You can keep it at my house. You are wearing that jacket out of here.” Lena put the money for the jacket down on the counter, and the bored teen behind it took it without even looking up from their phone. “Besides, you need a souvenir from the trip, and this one is perfect.” The cashier handed the receipt back. Lena took it and went to crumple it up and throwing it away right there. But she hesitated. Turning back to Webby, she placed it in her hand. “You know what, I’m not going to make your decisions for you. It’s up to you, but for the record  _ I _ think you giving up that jacket would be a national tragedy.” Lena stepped around Webby to pay for the globe paperweight she was still holding. She wanted a memory of her own as well after all. When she turned back, Webby was grinning back at her, jacket still on.

“It does look pretty good on me.”

“Damn right it does.”

 

“Alright, I know it’s sad, but it’s time to say goodbye to the city.” Lena started up the truck’s engine and turned to face Webby.

“Bye city! Hopefully I’ll be back one day!” Webby even waved out the window, and Lena couldn’t help but giggle to herself, although she also felt the undercurrent of sadness as well. She knew that Beakly wouldn’t let Webby back out to the city of her own free will for a long, long time and this would be the last thing Webby saw that wasn’t Stardew for a while. But as she was looking over, her eyes drifted to Webby’s new jacket and she made herself think of the positive things. The two of them had a day’s full of memories together that no one could take from them, and a few souvenirs to prove it. 

“Alright,thanks for waiting. I’m done saying goodbye.” Webby pulled Lena out of her thoughts. “Let’s head home.”

 

-

 

“Aaaaannndddd...done.” Lena placed her new paperweight on the coffee table, then stood back up and wiped her hands on her jeans. “I think it looks good.”

“Agreed.” Webby surveyed the space around them. It was small, but in a homey sense, not broke-college-student way. 

“Oooohhh. Who’s this?” Lena turned around and saw her cat saunter in through the open door. 

“Oh, look who decided to grace us with his presence.” Lena mock-berated him. Turning around, Webby’s eyes widened and she bent down to look closer.

“Webby, this is my cat Familiar. Familiar, Webby.”

“I like her.” Familiar purred and arched his back as Webby scratched behind his ear.

“Where’d you get him?”

“Ran into him one day walking home from town. Couldn’t say no to that adorable little face.”

“One of my finest weapons.” Familiar rumbled from Webby’s feet. 

“So, what else are you going to do with this place?” Webby asked, standing back up.

“Plants. Lots and lots of plants probably.” Lena looked around, already planning what to grow where. What Webby didn’t know is that all the natural magic would help cloak or even purge the dark magic aura that still clung to the walls like mold. 

“You’re really getting into nature out here huh? Is that why you’re changing your hair color?” 

“I’m changing my huh now?” Lena’s head whipped around to face Webby. After she had gotten away from Magica, she spent months experimenting with different hair dye brands, salons, and even magic, but no matter what she put in/on/over the purple stripe, it would not go away or be covered up. 

“Yeah, the green stripe? I like the look like it’s growing in. It must be hard to do.”

Lena walked over to the bathroom and leaned into the mirror. Pulling some hair aside, sure enough, there was a deep green color creeping up from the roots. 

“Well, you know me. Natural born rebel, cutting edge of fashion.” Lena was almost positive her voice cracked. She wasn’t against her nature magic in any specific way, but sudden changes like this sent her into a spiral. She began to hyperventilate. 

“Hey. Calm down.” Familiar rubbed up against Webby’s leg, distracting her away from Lena. “In for five. Out for five.”

“How do you know so much about breathing techniques?” Lena muttered to herself but did as she was recommended and managed to get her heartbeat under some semblance of control again. Walking back to her front door, she not-so-subtly checked her watch. “You should probably head back. Take it from me, it’s exponentially harder to get away with sneaking out if you aren’t there when the parents come back.”

“Ooh. Yeah good point.” Webby slid her shoes back on and had her hand on the doorknob when Lena cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Uh, Webby?” Lena plucked at her collar, and Webby’s face flushed as she let out an awkward laugh.

“Oh. Right.” Shedding her flight jacket, she held it out to Lena. Lena wrapped her fingers around it gingerly, as if a single crease would render it irreparably damaged. Webby didn’t let go right away.

“Don’t worry. I’ll keep it safe.” Lena crossed her heart and actually meant it. 

“Thank you.” With that, Webby let go of the jacket. Giving Lena one more smile, she left with a barely-whispered “See you soon friend.”

Lena stared at the door, then the jacket in her hands. Operating on autopilot, she went to her closet, grabbed her nicest hangar and hung it as carefully as she could. Looking down to Familiar, she said “Time for a short drive and a longer walk.” Leaving everything but her house keys, wallet, and sword behind, she continued “You be good while I’m gone.”

 

Lena actually got very lucky after returning the moving truck. The bus had just arrived at a nearby station, and it was the right one to take her home. She was back once more to being flat broke, but the thought didn’t fill her with dread as it once did. Instead, she was already formulating a plan for the next couple of days to rebuild a healthy buffer and, for the first time in a long while, she fell asleep with a sense of determination and confidence instead of dread. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was adding Violet planned? Absolutely not. Will she be a recurring character? Probably not.
> 
> Does it make sense iron-hands Webby lost her grip? No. Am I leaving it anyway? Yes. You know why.
> 
> Webby's jacket: https://www.smithsonianstore.com/product/6-patch-adult-ma-1-flight-jacket-28313.do?sortby=ourPicks&refType=&from=Search


	8. Meeting People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena needs to make some new friends if she's going to finish the tasks the Junimos set for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait all. I’ve been prepping stories for Weblena Week/Month. So, expect some of those too. I’m planning on doing 26 of the 28 days, and making it all like one big story, but I’m not feeling the inspiration on some of the days. We’ll see how it goes. But that means this story probably won’t be updated for a while longer.

“Ok.” Lena sat down at her desk with the ingredient list the Junimos gave her. “It’s time to knuckle down.”

“Why are you doing this again anyway?” Familiar hopped up onto the table and tried to walk over the list. Being stopped with a quick arm by Lena, he huffed and dropped down onto her lap instead.

“Magica really screwed these poor creatures over.” Lena tapped the list with a finger. “This is the best way to make it right.”

“Sounds a lot like your shouldering a bunch of your parent’s sins here.”

“What were you, a therapist in your past life?” Lena snarked back, even if she was also petting him with one hand. “Besides, they need help. I can help them. It doesn’t get much simpler.”

“But it can get a lot more complicated.”

“Do you want me to change your name to Socrates or something?” 

“Gods no.”

“Exactly. Now zip it for a while. I need to plan.” Lena looked back to the list and began writing out sections on scrap paper. “The scavenging stuff is pretty easy, I have the wood and stone from that day with the boys, and if I upgrade my ax I can get the hardwood…”

 

-

 

The feeling of sand under Lena’s feet never got old. Even though she was wearing shoes, she still enjoyed the give and shift she felt when she walked on it. Knocking on Donald’s door, because she didn’t just barge into people’s houses, she looked out over the sea for a while. She could see how it could be calming. Turning to look down the coastline, she saw a broken bridge that connected to a different part of the beach. Standing on her tiptoes, she could just make out a couple of tidepools. There could be some useful ritual components in there. She could probably fix that bridge…

“Lena! Welcome back.” Donald’s voice startled her out of her musings, and she turned to face him. “What can I do for you today?”   
“I needed help with catching some specific types of fish.” She handed over the list. “These fish.” 

“Ah, well you’ve come to the right place!” Donald slapped her on the back, probably a little harder than he realized. “Well, sort of. There’s an almanac you can use that will tell you about specific habits of specific fish. But it’s in the library. Give me one second to get the name for you.” Turning, he headed back into his shop, but before Lena could look back out at the sea, the triplets walked out after him. When they saw her, they all gave her matching smug grins and Lena scoffed. She could tell where this was going already.   
“So, how’d the move go?” 

“Is that your real question?”

“What? Can’t we just ask how our friend’s day was? We’re friends right?” Louie placed a hand indignantly on his chest. Lena had a feeling he wasn’t concerned with the answer.

“The move was fine.”

“Would you call it...out of this world?”

“I could get at least two of you off this pier into the ocean, you know that right?”

“Got it!” Donald pushed back out the door, stopping when he saw the boys, giving them a suspicious look. 

“What’s with the face?” Indignancy ran strong in this family it seems. “We’re your own flesh and blood, and you suspect us so quickly?”

“Exactly.” Donald narrowed his eyes at them for another moment, before turning and handing the paper to Lena, his entire demeanor changing instantly. “Here you go. Just ask Duckworth, and he’ll help you find it. Library’s right by Selene’s.”

“Oh good, I wanted to ask her something anyway. Thanks for the help, Donald!” Turning back to the boys, she narrowed her own eyes. “Lackeys.”

“Wow. SEE IF WE EVER DO ANYTHING NICE FOR YOU AGAIN!” Dewey shouted at her as she strolled her way back up the beach. 

 

-

 

“Knock knock.” She called, pushing through the door to the blacksmith shop. “It’s your favorite customer!”

“Presumptuous, but I will neither confirm nor deny it.” Selene said with a grin from behind the counter. “What brings you in today Lena?”

“It’s these.” She replied, unzipping her bag and placing a couple of rocks down on the table. “They’re all breaking in the exact same pattern. I was wondering if there was something different about them.” Lena didn’t see the necessity in mentioning that she also felt subtle magical potential radiating from each one. 

“Ah, good eye. These are geodes.” Selene said, picking one up and spinning it around in the light. “I can crack them open for a small fee, and whatever’s in them is yours.”

“Sounds great!” Lena answered, dumping her bag of geodes out onto the table.

 

“So, what are all these exactly?” Lena asked, the spots in her bag taken by geodes now chock-full of a new selection of minerals and artifacts. 

“Oh, I don’t know.” Selene replied unhelpfully. 

“What? Why not? Isn’t this like your whole job?” 

“Blacksmithing is my job, kid. Cracking those geodes open is right on the edge of my expertise, but geology? Nuh-uh. You could take them to Duckworth though.”

“The library guy?”

“Yeah, he could know more about them.” 

“Alright, good thing I was headed over there anyway.” Lena zipped up her backpack and headed for the door. “Thanks for the help Selene!” 

“Anytime! Assuming you can pay me!”

“Fair enough.” Lena muttered to herself as the door closed. Thankfully, she could actually see the library from the blacksmith, so the walk was quick. Opening the door, the interior was homey like every other building in Stardew Valley. Directly across from her sat a man that seemed just younger than Scrooge, sorting through files of papers. At the sound of the door chimes, he looked up to meet her eyes. “Hello, young lady. How may I halep you today?” 

“Well, I was hoping I could get my hands on this book?” She put the note Donald had written her on the counter. With a quick glance, he nodded. 

“I can certainly find it for you. It is reference material, however, and cannot be taken out of the library.”

“Drat. Well, can I have a piece of paper and a pen to go with it?”

“Of course.” The man, Duckworth she assumed, made his way around the counter and further down into the library. She followed along behind him, and couldn’t help but notice the way he walked. It was very smooth, resulting in almost no motion in his torso. It was slightly offputting if she were being honest. He stopped abruptly in front of a bookshelf, and Lena had to throw her weight backward to keep from running into him.

“Here we are.” Pulling a volume of what looked like a large series of them off the shelf, he handed it over to her. “Paper and writing utensils can be found at any empty desk.” 

“Thank you. Hey, what’s with all that empty space over there?” Lena pointed to a section of the library that instead of books, had a set of empty waist-high ornate tables. 

“Ah, yes. That.” Duckworth put a hand on his cheek and looked over to it, disappointed. “That is the museum section of the library. It used to house a collection of local geology and culture, but the last manager here stole the whole supply. I’m sorry, is this story funny to you?” Duckworth gave Lena a withering look, but she only smiled back at him. 

“Dude, I’m about to make your day.”

 

-

 

Lena grunted and shifted her arms again, finding there was no easy way to hold her new furniture. 

“Hey, Lena!” 

Her disposition brightened instantly as she turned to see Webby jogging over to her. When she arrived, she let out an appreciative whistle. “What’s that?”

“I had a bunch of geodes that I got Selene to crack for me, and then I gave all the stuff I had inside to Duckworth for the museum section of the library, and he was so happy he gave me this...chair? I don’t know, I wasn’t going to say no.” She readjusted her position again. “It is kind of heavy.”

“Oh, let me help you carry it! We just closed the store, so I have plenty of time.” 

“Oh do you now?” Beakly’s voice came from her left and with exhausted breath, Lena put her new chair down. This conversation would probably not end any time soon. 

“Please, Granny? I’ll be right back!” 

Apparently, not even hardened spies couldn’t resist the puppy dog eyes, because after a scant few seconds, Beakly sighed and said “Very well. But come RIGHT BACK.” 

“THANK YOU GRANNY!” Webby practically shouted in her face, before sprinting over to the chair on the ground, lifting it into the air apparently effortlessly, and beelining for Lena’s house. The two watched her go, one stunned, one quietly amused. 

“I had better catch up to her. She’ll have a hard time getting in without my key.”

“No, she wouldn’t.” Beakly said matter-of-factly. “But I’m sure she wouldn’t do that. Where did you get that thing anyway?” 

“Duckworth gave it to me.” Lena didn’t think she had to share the story with every single person she met. “Sure, it’s an eyesore, but it was a gift and I’m running low on furniture anyway.” She started a lazy jog after Webby. Turning and waving over her shoulder, she called “Bye Beakly! See you again later!”

“It would seem so.” 

 

-

 

“So, did you actually volunteer to do this just so you could wear your jacket and pet my cat?” Lena asked with an amused smirk as Webby posed in front of the full-length mirror hanging from my closet door. 

“I am so glad you got this for me.” Webby said, smiling at Lena in the mirror. “I’m definitely going to pay you back somehow.”

“Oh, I think we can work something off OUT. Work something out!” Lena was mortified at her slip, but thankfully Webby either didn’t notice or was polite enough to let it slide. “A-anyway, take a picture if you want, but then you should probably head back. I don’t want your Granny bugging my home.”

“Oh, good point!” Webby said without a trace of humor. Quickly shedding the jacket, she hung it back on the hangar before gently closing the door on it. Lena wlked her to the door and opened it for her. “So thanks fo-” before she could finish the sentence, Webby whipped around and wrapped her arms tightly around Lena. Her mouth betrayed her and stopped dead in it’s tracks.

“Thank you, Lena.” She felt as much as heard whispered into her shirt before Webby let go and took off running toward her home. 


	9. Pot Luck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena attends her first Stardew Valley party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait. I needed to take a break from Weblena and writing in general after the stuff I did for Weblena month. Expect all that to be up around the first or second too.

Lena watched Webby run off, distracted by the feelings rooted in her chest. 

“Lena and Webby, sitting in a tree.” 

She heard from next to her ankle. Scoffing (and blushing), she gently nudged Familiar with her foot. “Shut up, I can still have you neutered.” 

“You wouldn’t dare. That would decrease my magical potency.”

“I could make it work.”

“Hey didn’t you have somewhere else to be?”

“Oh shit!” Lena looked down at her watch. She might have enough time if she sprinted. Whirling around, she slammed and locked the door behind her. Leaping down the steps, she was off with a “Don’t eat any of my crops!” Thrown hastily over her shoulder. 

“Hmpf.” Familiar muttered, plopping down to enjoy the last of the afternoon sun. “As if I would.”

 

-

 

Lena burst int the door, panting. “Sorry, I just had a que….Hello Mayor Scrooge.”

Standing in front of the counter like a deer in headlights, Scrooge cleared his throat. “Uhm, hello Lena. What bring’s you here today?”

“Right before closing no less.” a voice purred from behind him. 

“Well, I was hoping I could ask Ms. O’Gilt about her animals, and purchasing a few for myself.” Scrooge stepped aside to reveal Goldie herself leaning on the counter, an uncomfortably predatory look in her eyes. “But I think the more important question is what YOU’RE doing here Mayor. Looking to open up a little competition?” Lena relished the panicked looks flashed across their faces, finally having the upper hand in a conversation. 

“Well, I er-” Scrooge pulled his collar and glanced nervously at Goldie, who gave him the same look right back. “Business checkup!” He shouted. “Yes, I was checking on Goldie’s business to make sure she was sustaining herself! And now that I have, I’m off. Farewell!” Scrooge quickly swept out the door, leaving a smug Lena and incredulous Goldie behind. 

“Business checkup, hm?” She turned to look at Goldie, whose head was in her hands. 

“Would it even matter if I said yes?”

“Well, I am new in town, but it does seem a little odd to bring an extra shirt to a business meeting.” Lena leaned dramatically to look over Goldie’s shoulder, into the open room behind her where what was clearly one of Scrooge’s shirts laid in a heap on the floor. 

Goldie’s eyes widened in horror, and she quickly spun around to slam the door shut. Turning back to Lena, single eyebrow raised and smug grin on, she pointed at her menacingly. “Not a word to anyone.”

“Hey, I’m no snitch. Honestly, I’m impressed. It’s gotta be difficult to keep a secret in a town this small, especially with Beakly living in it.”

“I believe you had a question?” Goldie ground out between her teeth. Lena DID want to keep needling her, but she was going to buy things from the woman eventually. It was probably not a good idea to be absolutely hated by her yet. 

Lena cleared her throat and got herself back under control. “I was just wondering how much some animals cost, how to care for them, that kind of thing.”

“Well for starters, I’m not selling you anything alive until you have a coop or barn respectively. Giving them no shelter from the rain is inhumane, and I won’t allow it.” Lena nodded quickly at the intense look in her eye. “You can talk to Fenton about having one built. Otherwise, it’s pretty straightforward. You can just treat them like pets really. They’ll eat hay, but prefer grass. Spend some time with them every day, petting and such, and they’ll be putty in your hands in no time.”

Lena nodded, commiting the instructions to memory just in case, though it seemed pretty straightforward. Looking down to her watch, she grimaced. No way she had time to run all the way up to Fenton’s. “Well, nice meeting you Goldie. I look forward to working with you in the future, you and Scrooge have fun.”

There was a muffled “Hey!” from behind her as she shut the door, and Lena chuckled a little to herself. 

 

-

 

Yawning, Lena rubbed her eyes and stepped out onto her front yard. Turning to look, she saw she had mail. Leaning over the railing, she thumbed the mailbox open and pulled out a single letter. “Scrooge huh?” She muttered, tearing it open with her thumb. “Man, he’s up early. Or late. ‘Dear Lena, tomorrow bluh bluh bluh Luau?’ Oh, cool. ‘The highlight of the event is the communal POTLUCK? Make sure you bring something good to contribute?!’” Lena looked up to Familiar, horrified. “I don’t have anything to bring.”

“I think you do.” Following Familiar’s eyes, Lena’s eyes widened. Her modest watermelon farm  was ripe and ready for picking. Slowly descending the steps, she kept her eyes on the field like they would disappear if she looked away. Taking a knee, she reached around and yanked the watermelon off it’s stalk. “This is a good one.” She muttered in a daze. “This will work for the Luau.” She looked at the melon in her hands, and seriously considered dashing them all against the side of her house, afraid of some strange curse put upon them. Only the fact that she sensed no magic coming from them stopped her. They were normal watermelons, just having matured a couple of days early. Lena spent the rest of the day picking the melons, re-watering and fertilizing the ground, and replacing the seeds. 

 

-

 

Lena arrived at the beach, decorated with lampposts and totem poles. Off to her right, there was a speaker set up next to a mat of leaves working as the dancefloor, playing Luau-appropriate music. It seemed Storkules had no interest in following the music, swinging Donald around with jovial laughter. In front of her sat what she assumed was the potluck soup, which looked more like a horse trough. The tables were arranged in a loose rectangle around it, and at the leftmost table she saw the boys, Violet, and Webby chatting. Webby met her eyes and a grin split across her face, waving her over to the table. Lena responded with a smile of her own, making her way over and adding her watermelon slices to the pot as she went. She had just gotten to hearing distance, and Webby was opening her mouth-

“He’s here!” Lena whipped around to see Scrooge dashing down the beach. It was the first time she had ever seen him run, and she was impressed at how fast he could move. She could have sworn he wasn’t a day under 75, but maybe looks were deceiving. “The Governor is here!” Scrooge straightened himself out and forced an easygoing smile onto his face, hiding her nerves with years of practice. And up the path the Governor strolled,  taking the scenery in as a man on vacation would. 

“Gosh, I do love visiting this town. The air alone adds ten years to your life.”

“That’s what I said!” Lena exclaimed before she could realize what she was doing. Horrified, she slapped a hand over her mouth. But it was too late. The Governor had turned to face her, and she quickly yanked her hand away from her face. Behind the Governor, Scrooge was looking at her like she had pulled the pin on a hand grenade.

“Well, it’s always nice to see a new face, Miss…” he held out his hand to her. 

“De Spell.” The words stuck in her throat like glue, but she forced them out. “Lena de Spell.” She took the hand and shook it.

“It’s a pleasure, Ms. de Spell.” Lena was too terrified to correct him. “Of course, I’m the governor. But I prefer most people to call me Mickey. What brought you to this little town?”

“Well,” Lena could see the looks on the rest of the townsfolk’s faces, and she knew they wanted her to lie. But her instincts told her that would end poorly. “I came to hande my late Aunt’s affairs, but even after I finished I just can’t seem to make myself go back to the city.”

“I’m terribly sorry about your aunt.” Mickey gave her a sympathetic look.

“Thank you, but we weren’t that close. Besides, no use bringing down the party with grim topics. I think we should get to the soup.” She leaned in toward Mickey and faux-whispered “I added one of my best watermelons. It’s gonna blow your socks off.” 

Mickey laughed. “Well, I can’t wait.” Stepping up to the bowl, Mickey took the ladle and poured a  bit into his bowl. The whole beach seemed to be holding it’s breath, and Lena was too nervous to see if everyone was staring at the governor or at her. After the tensest moment of her life, a grin spread across Mickey’s face. “Well, you’ve all outdone yourselves. This is the best soup I’ve ever tasted!” Lena felt the breath rush out of her, and she only had the emotional capacity to put up a thumb while everyone else cheered and got in line with their own bowls.

The rest of the afternoon went perfectly. She managed to hold down conversations like a functioning adult, and if she and Webby stood a little closer to each other than necessary, no one seemed to notice. 

 

-

 

Lena’s eyes popped open. She rubbed her face and groggily sat up. She was at the Luau pretty late, which surprised even her, and knew she needed her sleep for the next day. But she was also positive that she felt a powerful source of magic approaching her house. Throwing on her boots, she grabbed her sword and made her way to the front door. Pausing one more time to collect herself, she took a deep breath before carefully turning the handle. Peeking through the crack, she squinted against the sleep in her eyes, before slowly lowering her blade. There, hovering above her crops was a fairy. “Woah. I’ve never seen a fairy before.” Lena muttered, sheathing her sword and carefully opening the door the rest of the way. Stepping out onto her porch, leaving the sword leaning by the door, she cleared her throat. The fairy whipped around to her, panic written across her face, but it melted into a joyful smile when her eyes landed on Lena. The fairy waved at her.

“Uh, hi. What’s up?” Lena came down her front steps to stand at the edge of the field where the fairy was floating. The fairy waved her hand through the air, and sparkles rained down onto her crops. Lena watched with wide eyes as they seemed to mature before her eyes, turning the tiny sprouts into full-grown pepper plants. “Wow. That’s impressive. Oh that was you the other day? With the watermelon? You really saved my butt there.” The fairy squinted her eyes at Lena, shaking her head. “What? I t wasn’t you?” She floated right up in front of Lena and poked a finger into Lena’s collarbone. “Me? But how?...” The fairy reached up and gently placed a finger Lena’s head, and Lena shuddered. Somehow she knew instinctively that she had her finger on the green stripe that had been steadily growing in her hair. With one last smile, the fairy flapped her wings and shot up into the air. Lena looked at her flying away but didn’t really watch. She turned and walked back into her house as if she was on autopilot, and was only mildly surprised when she found herself standing in front of her bathroom mirror, staring at the green streak in her hair. 

“I need to figure you out.” 


	10. Moonlight Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes answers come to you before you even know the question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to skip along the game time a bit, because there is only so much story I can write around “Lena goes fishing. Lena goes fishing. Lena farms. Lena smelts, then heads back to the mines.”

Lena hefted the thing in her arms, straining against the weight of it. “And this is a what exactly?”

“A crystalarium!” the Junimo bounced around her feet. “It will copy any gem you put into it!” 

“Wow. That’s pretty impressive.” Lena replied, but she was distracted. Setting the heavy device down with a  _ thump _ , she straightened up and cleared her throat. “So uh, I have a question.” 

“Yes?” 

“This nature magic you’ve granted me? What  _ is _ it exactly?”

The Junimo stopped bouncing and squinted it’s eyes at her. Lena imagined this is how someone who was confused would look if they had no mouth or nose. “What do you mean?”

“Well, at first I thought it was just a spell to help me understand you, but I met this fairy a night or two ago-”

“You’ve seen The Crop Fairy?! Oh this is a fantastic sign!”

“Yeah yeah, but she said that  _ I _ was making my crops grow faster?”

“Naturally!” The Junimo chittered. How did they speak anyway, now that she thought about it? “You are connected to a new source of magic, so your new connection will begin to manifest.”

“What does that mean?” Lena asked, exasperated at her lack of ability to get her point across. She dropped down to the ground and put out her hands. “I don’t understand.”

“Did the Shadow Witch not instruct you?” 

“Of the things Magica was invested in, my magical education was not one of them.” Lena brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them. 

“Of course, the hag.” That was the first time Lena had ever heard a Junimo mad. Waddling over to her, it put an arm on her foot. “Well allow me to give you a summary. All creatures have access to certain types of magic. We Junimos, being forrest spirits, can only use nature magic. Humans are born of all types and can, therefore, use any source equally. Due to the….circumstances of your creation, you were originally limited to using shadow magic. Now, after the gift we have given, you will begin to connect to the ebb and flow of nature around you.”

“Yeah, Magica never taught me that.” Lena muttered bitterly to herself. “But how do I control it?” 

“I’m afraid I cannot help you.” The Junimo gave her an apologetic look. “I cannot explain what is intrinsically part of myself. It would be like asking how you breathe or move your muscles.”

“Damn. Well, something is better than nothing.” Lena took a knee, hefting the crystalarium again. “Thank you for your help.”

“Nonsense! Thank YOU for what you’ve been doing for us, Good luck in your escapades, Lena!”

 

* * *

  
  


Lena poked her tongue out, getting a good look at the project before her. She had more than enough wood, but she was bound to make a few mistakes along the way…

“Someone’s a little early for the festival.” Lena started at the voice behind her. Thankfully, at this point she was used to the resident’s ability to avoid all noise when walking up behind her, so she didn’t throw her hammer at Donald’s face. 

“The what?” 

“The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies. Tonight. Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“I’m here to fix this bridge over to the tide pools. So I say again, the huh?”

“The Dance of the Moonlight Jellies. Every year, at the same time tonight reliable as clockwork, the Moonlight Jellies pass by the beach on their trip down south for the fall and winter. Scrooge lights a torch on a boat, and it attracts them toward the shore for a while.”

“No way.”

“I’m almost jealous. I wish I could see it for the first time again.”

“Well with a recommendation like that, I’ll definitely be stopping by.” Donald took a sip from his travel mug with a smile and nodded to Lena, who returned the smile in kind. The two turned away from each other and continued on with their day, confident they would see each other again. 

 

* * *

 

The beach had a totally different air about it at night. The waves seemed to roll in louder, the dull hooting of owls behind her replacing the shrill cry of the seagulls. Lena would definitely have to come back when there weren’t any candles because right now, the beach was covered in them. Every couple feet a small divet was dug into the sand for a candle to rest neatly inside. Along the pier, where she was making her way towards, was totally dark. The only lights that reached it were the ones in palm-sized boats floating in the water, moored to the wooden posts. Lena supposed they were lucky that the waves weren’t coming in too harshly, but the more she thought about it the more she realized she had  _ never  _ seen the waves come in too harshly. Not even during that storm last week…

“Careful Lena!” A hand grabbed the back of her shirt, and she shook herself back to reality. Looking down, she saw one foot safely on the pier, the other out over open water. Stepping back a couple steps, she turned and chuckled a little. 

“Heh. Thanks, Violet.” 

“Any time. Webby will be here soon, she and Ms. Beakly are closing the store.” 

“Wha? Why do you bring her up?” Lena tried (and failed) to not look back up the beach, and Violet raised her eyebrow in response, smirking at Lena. For the first time, Lena knew exactly what the smirk was about, and wasn’t sure if she liked it better this way or not.

“Come on. I’ll take you to our usual spot. The boys are already there.” 

“Thanks. You know, I didn’t know you had some serious muscle under there.” Lena said as they began walking, pointing to Violet’s sleeve-clad arm. 

“It comes with the apprenticeship. Dr. Gearloose works in multiple fields, and sometimes some of the fields require heavy lifting. He usually has me do it.”

“That means that when these flimsy boards buckle under our weight, she can swim us all back to shore.” On the outside, Louie seemed his usual cocky self, but the white-knuckle grip on one of the poles and shake in his voice betrayed his fears. 

“I told you, this pier has had our house on it longer than any of us have been alive.” Huey responded, his eyes behind a set of binoculars. “It can handle the weight.”

“Forgive me for not taking unnecessary risks.”

“I’m sorry, who are you and what have you done with our brother?” Louie was just about to reply to his brother with some snappy comment no doubt, but was interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. 

“Sorry, sorry we’re late!” Webby came tearing up the beach, doing a surprisingly good job of not stumbling in the loose sand. “We were just closing up the-” her words died on her lips as her head panned to Lena, who offered a quick wave. “Oh my god I forgot to invite you!” Webby practically threw herself at Lena, who braced a foot back and put her arms out in preparation. Thankfully, Webby wasn’t actually airborne, so instead of taking them both down she slid to a stop in front of Lena and wrapped her hands around Lena’s. “I’m so sorry.” 

“It’s alright. I heard from Donald.” Lena nodded to her side, and Webby looked over to see Donald giving them a thumbs up. “And Violet got the chance to stop me from walking clean off the pier, which must have been pretty funny.”

“It was quite amusing.” 

“See? All fine.” Lena gently freed one of her hands from Webby’s (very impressive) grip, and placed it on her shoulder. “Really.”

The anguish lingered for a couple of long moments, but eventually it washed away, replaced by a (muted) excitement. “Ok, well, then I’m glad you made it! The Moonlight Jellies are really amazing.”

“So I’ve heard.” 

“They’re here!” Huey’s call cut through all the conversation on the beach. Lena turned out to the ocean and, sure enough, saw a faint glow far away. 

“Everyone here?” Scrooge did a quick headcount and nodded when he saw the townsfolk were all present and accounted for. “Right, here we go!” He let go of the rope in his hand, and the boat with a particularly bright candle in it began drifting out to sea. 

“Come on!” Webby tugged her hand (Wait, they were still holding hands?) and pulled her over to the edge. It was only a couple of moments until the first one drifted up, floating lazily along an unseen current. Lena had to admit, the glow was impressive, and it only became more so as more and more jellies floated up to the shore. She couldn’t speak with them, but she got a  feeling of lazy curiosity. Like  _ Oh, it’s pretty bright over here. I’ll go check it out with you.  _ She knew this was going to be a night to remember, but then she made the mistake of looking down the pier. 

_ Webby looks like a goddess  _ was the only thought she could seem to generate. The soft glow of the jellies mixed with the candles surrounding them highlighted her like she was glowing, and the pinpricks of light in her pupils looked like stars on the most perfect night for stargazing. Something tore through Lena’s heart like a cannonball, she could swear it was about to explode out of her chest. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew this was it. It wasn’t just a game or fun little flirting anymore. 

“Hey, look!” Louie’s voice shattered her train of thought like a stained glass window. Looking up, she saw Louie, and several others were looking at the water in front of her. Looking down, her eyes widened. A whole swarm of the Jellies were floating in a tight ring in front of her, and a greenish one with a different body shape drifted in the middle. Lena was painfully aware she was now the center of attention. 

“Heh. Guess they like me?” She weakly shrugged her shoulders, unable to come up with a good explanation on the spot, especially after the revelation she just had. 

“I’ve never seen one like that before.” Huey had a camera out, photographing the unique species and phenomena in general. “Maybe it’s a farming chemical that’s still clinging to your clothing?”

“Yeah, maybe!” Lena said much too loudly. “I mean, what else could it be?” There was a strange magical aura around the Jellyfish, one that tickled the back of her mind with it’s familiarity, but she  _ just  _ couldn’t put her finger on it. 

“Huh. Well I guess we have a Moonlight Jelly good luck charm in ye lass.” Scrooge strolled over and put a hand on your shoulder. It was the first time anyone old enough to be her parent (or grandparent, she wasn’t sure) had referred to her with fondness like that, and she felt an unfamiliar warmth blossom in her cheeks. 

Lena went to bed that night feeling like she was standing at the edge of a cliff, and wasn’t sure if she even wanted to stop herself from jumping. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know in chapter one I said they were ducks, but the word "humans" just flows to nicely to not use. Besides, when Doofus calls them "Man" in canon, I feel like that throws the rules out the window.


	11. Fair Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena visits the Stardew Valley fair with her friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I continue to play fast and loose with the story, because time is money and I am broke.

Lena made a big deal of stepping over fallen leaves and sticks. Fenton couldn’t help but break his concentration and chuckle. “Lena. Please.” Lena ignored him, “sneaking” up to the fence Fenton put up to mark the construction zone. She oh-so-slowly placed a travel mug on the railing. “Lena, it’s fine. Really.” Using two fingers, she began inching it down the fence toward Fenton, adamantly looking nonchalant. With a grin and a sigh, Fenton slid his hammer back into his toolbelt and picked up the mug.

“Yes!” Lena fist-pumped the air. “He accepts the mug! It’s hot cocoa, with milk. You’re not allergic right? And don’t lie to me just to get out of drinking it.” 

“Nope, not allergic. You really didn’t have to do this though.”

Lena gave Fenton an incredulous look. “Fenton, I wake up at FIVE IN THE MORNING and you’re here building. I turn in at 11 at night and you’re here. I hear no breaks during the day either. Take the damn cocoa or I’m force-feeding it to you.” 

“Aye aye, Captn’!” Fenton mock-saluted, taking a big gulp out of the thermos. “Oh, Scrooge came by with a letter for you too.”

“Gods Fenton, how early did you get here?” Lena knew he wouldn’t give her a straight answer, so she turned her back on his “You know, I’m a morning person...” and made her way to the mailbox, sipping her own mug. Popping the door, she slid out the single envelope and tore it open. “‘Dear Lena, a week from today we are hosting the Stardew Valley Fair in the town square’? Ooh, exciting. ‘Biggest event of the year….set up a grange display. Bring up to nine items to showcase your talents’? Hhhmmmm….” Lena trailed off, already mentally filing through her things for her highest-quality items.  _ Well, I did just find that diamond in the mines, and I can speed up my pumpkins with a bit of power…yeah, I can make this pretty good.  _

“SO WHAT’S THE LETTER ABOUT?”

“GO HOME AND SLEEP FENTON!”

 

* * *

 

“Miss de Spell!” Lena flinched. She was pretty sure everyone in town had figured out she didn’t like that name. So that only left…

Turning around, Lena saw a man rushing up to her. He was wearing a green shirt, vest, and bowtie. Looking over his shoulder, she saw Violet jogging behind, mouthing  _ Sorry.  _ Stopping short just in front of her, the man launched into a speech without even a pause for breath. “Miss de Spell-”

“LENA.” Lena could see pretty clearly that this man would not stop once he got rolling, so she corrected the name problem and made sure her tone left no room for argument. 

“Right, er, Lena. My assistant tells me you’re friends.”

“That we are.” Lena reached around the man for a fistbump, which Violet accepted with a small grin, before quickly reverting to her professional demeanor. 

“Excellent! I’ve found that the cave at the back of your property would be an excellent location for an experiment I’m running. May I use it?”

“...What’s the experiment?” Lena didn’t exactly distrust the man, but she heard stories of “mishaps” in his lab which lit up the night sky. The town called them “Gearloose grenades”, and she didn’t want one of those going off right behind her house. 

“It is an excellent location to observe growth habits of mushrooms!”

“Really? That’s all?”

“Yes. I have no use for the mushrooms, you can keep them if you like. I just require the data they provide. The previous owner of this land was...unenthusiastic.”

Lena barked out a laugh. “Yeah, I bet she was. Slammed the door in your face didn’t she?”

“Literally.” Gyro replied, subconsciously rubbing his beak where the door had hit him. 

“And this experiment has no extreme noises or lights or something?” 

“They are literally stone slabs.”

“Well, why not then. You have my permission.” Lena stuck out a hand to shake, but the man had turned back around the second Lena agreed. 

“Excellent! I’ll return from my lab with the slabs in ju-” he stopped dead in his sentence, staring across the farm. Standing there, staring back, Fenton gulped. 

Lena looked between the two men, unsure of what was going on. Turning to Violet, she held out her hands. Violet slid over to Lena and leaned in next to her ear. “They had a falling out. Fenton used to have my job.” Lena nodded and made a quiet “ah” noise, before clearing her throat.

“The slabs, Doctor...?”

“Gearloose. Gyro Gearloose.” He muttered, before snapping himself out of it. “Right! The slabs. I’ll return shortly.” Gyro continued his sprint back to the lab, being extremely sure to not look at Fenton. Violet sighed and looked over to Lena. 

“He’s going to need help with those. Thank you for letting him use the cave.”

“Hey, no problem. It’s not like I was for anything. See you at Launchpad’s later?”

With a thumbs up over her shoulder, Violet jogged off after the doctor. 

Lena watched them go for a minute before turning, unsurprised that Gyro was standing next to her. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lena cut him off.

“Left some tools at home?”

“Wh-I, uh, yes! Yes I did.” 

“Better go grab them then. Don’t want that thing falling down on all my chickens.” 

“Right away!” Fenton gave her a grateful smile before dashing off.

“No rush!” She called after him. “Don’t want to make too many trips!” Turning back to her front door, she put a hand under her chin. “Now, about that fish…”

 

* * *

 

Lena was never one for events in her early life. Magica didn’t exactly see fit to take her to the circus all too often, and after she got away she was content to never be seen by another person ever again if she could get away with it. The Valley was warming her up to the idea, although she wasn’t too upset she missed an egg hunt and some dance. But she had to admit, the Fair atmosphere was uplifting.

The weather was perfect, which it always seemed to be on event days. A couple of leaves dropped from shedding trees and drifted lazily to the ground. The tents dotted the lawn like unevenly spaced polka dots, and the indistinct buzz of conversation filtered through the breeze like a more pleasant cicada hum. 

As she was walking by, she saw her friends assembled by some sort of “Test your strength!” game, complete with hammer and bell. 

“Hey Lena!” Louie called to her, and Lena would be lying if the excited face Webby had when she whirled around didn’t make her heart jump a little.

“I’ll be right there, I’ve gotta go put stuff down for my grange display.” she filled them in as she walked by.

“No worries, I think Dewey’s warmup is going to take another fifteen minutes anyway,” Huey said dryly.

“I’m going to beat Webby this year, I’m sure!”

“Webby hits the bell, the best you can do is tie her.” Violet pointed out.

“Not if I KNOCK THE BELL OFF!” 

Lena chuckled a little and tuned out of the conversation, focusing on arranging her items so the light caught all the gems in the right way and the fruit had no bad spots facing forward. When she was satisfied with the presentation, she wandered back over to her friends where Dewey seemed to be shadowboxing. “So…”

“I’m ready!” Picking the hammer Dewey took a few deep breaths like he was about to dive underwater. “Raaaahh!” Swinging the hammer down, the ball hopped up four of the six notches. “Whoo! It seems stiffer this year, I think I’ve got a pretty good shot!”

“Do you want to crush his dreams now, or wait a couple of turns?” Louie looked over to Webby, who smiled back at him. 

“Let’s let him hope for a while.” Huey stepped up and took the hammer. Quickly rotating his shoulders, he lifted the hammer and swung it down, landing squarely between the third and fourth notch. “Still in the lead!” Dewey fist-pumped. 

Huey rolled his eyes and handed the hammer off to his last brother. Louie, with only one hand, lifted the hammer just above his knees and dropped it. The ball barely cleared the first notch. 

“Oh no, shame.” 

Violet took the hammer from the uninterested Louie, rolled her neck, and popped the ball to just under the fourth notch. 

“What? Man, I’ve been working out for like 12 hours a week. How did you do that?” 

“I live a very active lifestyle.” Violet held out the hammer evenly spaced between Lena and Webby, silently letting them choose who goes next. 

Lena quickly stepped forward and grabbed the handle. Turning to Webby, she pulled out one of her old cheeky grins. “I’ve got a feeling going after you would make me look bad.” Webby blushed and glanced down, but quickly brought her eyes back up. She didn’t want to miss Lena’s turn after all. Rolling her shoulders, Lena stepped up to the plate. With a deep breath, she held the hammer above her head and swung it down as hard as she could manage. When it connected, Lena watched in almost slow-motion as the ball climbed up, up, up…

JUST brushing the underside of the bell. “Damn.” she snapped her fingers. “Maybe next year.” Turning around, she went to hand off the hammer but stopped when she saw everyone was staring at her. “What?”

“YOU NEARLY HIT THE BELL!” Dewey shouted. 

“Yes, I remember. It wasn’t too long ago in fact.” 

“No one other than Webby has ever come that close!” Huey added.

“I’ve been running a farm all by myself for like 8 months. I can probably bench you if I really tried.” Lena gestured the hammer to Webby. “I’m sure Pink here is gonna kick my but though.” With the faraway look still in her eyes, Webby took the hammer and rang the bell with barely any focus. “See? Crushed it.” Lena said, despite the image of Webby’s forearms mid-swing still burned into her mind.

“Attention!” Scrooge’s voice cut through their conversation. “Grange displays will be judged in ten minutes! Contestants, make your final adjustments!”

“Oop, that’s me.” Lena was glad for the chance to duck out of this awkward moment. 

“I have to go help Granny with ours too,” Webby said, almost all the way back from wherever she went. 

“Oh you have one too huh?” Webby nodded to her. “Well then, may the best display win.” Lena held out a hand, and after staring at it for a second, Webby took it with a solid shake. After a final smile, Webby broke off to her own display. A couple of final checks on hers and Lena stood next to it, whistling a tune while waiting for the judges. 

“Alright Lena, let’s see what you have here.” Scrooge stepped up to her display. 

“Afternoon Mayor. And Goldie!” Lena smiled at the other woman as she stepped up. “Judging too huh? Have any other ‘business checkups’ lately?” Scrooge made a sound like he was jabbed in the gut, and Goldie shot her a dirty look. “Just wondering when I’m going to get one of my own. Then again, maybe I don’t want one.” Lena leaned against her display, maintaining her easygoing smile even as Scrooge looked like he wanted to melt into a puddle and Goldie wanted to break her clipboard in half over Lena’s head. 

“I-I think we’ve seen enough.” Scrooge regained some of his posture. 

“I agree.” Goldie ground out through her teeth. 

“Have a good afternoon! Good luck with the judging!” Lena called after them as they walked stiffly away. Looking over, she saw Webby staring at her. She offered a thumbs up.

After a couple minutes, Scrooge stepped back up in front of all the contestants. “The choice was difficult, but in the end, the contest goes to Lena.” 

Goldie stepped up to her and presented her with two slips, one a certificate for her win, one a voucher for 1,000 tokens. Whatever that meant. Lena thanked her, even if she didn’t let go of the slips so easily. Turning to put all of her items and certificate back in her bag, she turned back to see the three brothers, Webby and Violet standing in front of her. “You have the voucher,” Dewey said, almost reverently. 

“Uh, yeah. What is this for anyway?” 

“Prizes!” Dewey grabbed her arm and pulled her to a counter set up by the entrance of the fair. When they arrived, he pressed himself against the counter. “I want the hat.” Looking around, Lena saw a vase of dried flowers, a fedora, a scarecrow that looked like a witch (she snorted a little at that one), and a star-shaped fruit. 

Her gaze lingered on the last one. There was definitely a magical aura around it. “That one looks pretty good.”

The group followed her gaze. “The stardrop? I mean yeah, it’s a weird shape. But it can’t be 2,000 tokens expensive.” Looking down at the price, Lena deflated a little. She only had half the money she needed.

“Well, we won’t know until we try. How does one get more tokens?”

“You can pay for some at that stand over there,” Louie gestured. “But it’s an absolute ripoff. You’d be better off trying the games, fishing or slingshooting. Slingshoting? Whatever, using your slingshot.”

Lena grimaced. She wasn’t too great with the slingshot, stuffing it in a chest and forgetting about it a few days after finding it. And she was here at the fair to take a break from her errands. “That’s it?”

“Well, there’s the spinning wheel, but it’s definitely rigged,” Violet said. 

“Let’s go pay him a visit. I lived in the city for a while, I know a thing or two about rigged games and how to win them anyway.” 

Lena walked up to the wheel, eyeing it critically. She saw the tiny motor on the arrow and grinned. She could work with that.

“Fine sir! I’d like 1,000 on orange!” Lena held up her victory voucher between two fingers, and behind her, all her friends’ jaws dropped. 

“Don’t bet it all!” Louie said with his fingers in his hair.

“The chips are already down, Loubert.” Lena looked over her shoulder and winked at them as she handed the voucher over. She could practically hear the man salivating. Not giving her time to change her mind, he spun the arrow. Everyone was nervous, Louie in particular seemed to be biting off his fingernails. Lena wasn’t concerned though.  _ Wait for it. Waiiiit for it…. _

The arrow had slowed to a crawl. With a quick thought, Lena created a small spark in the motor, disabling it. The arrow slowed to a stop, just inside the orange, but undeniably so. The man looked at the wheel, dumbfounded, then back to Lena. Behind her, she could hear Louie cheering, but didn’t take her eyes off the man as she held out her hand. Grimacing, he handed her the original voucher, and another on top of it. “Thank you, my good man.” Turning back to her friends, she held out a hand and smiled when five others met hers. “Well, let’s go fishing. I believe we have a hat to win.” She said, pocketing her two vouchers for later.

“Woohoo!”

* * *

 

“Have fun at the fair?” Familiar purred as he hopped up onto her lap. 

“Definitely,” Lena replied, stroking his back as she looked at the fruit sitting innocuously on a plate at her table. 

“What’s that?” 

“Not sure.” She lifter Familiar off her lap and placed him on the ground. “But we’re gonna find out.” Picking up the stardrop, she went to go stand in the middle of the living room. “Bottoms up.” she muttered to herself before taking a bite. It was sweet, like a strawberry. It did taste good, but it didn’t seem particularly magical or even spe-

Lena staggered backward onto her couch as images and feelings flooded her mind.  _ Pink bow, strong arms, sweet smile, beautiful laugh, comforting and safe and warm and better than anything else I’ve ever known. _

The rush died down, a flooding torrent to a relaxed flow. When she refocused, she realized Familiar was standing on her lap again, staring at her. “Lena. Lena! Are you ok, your pupils are the size of dinner plates.” 

“I’m fine. Better than ever.” She murmured, barely paying attention as her mind whirled with a new fact she couldn’t ignore. “I have to tell her Familiar.”

“What?”

“I have to tell Webby. About magic.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stardrop, or as I like to call it, the "acknowledge your damn feelings Lena" fruit.


	12. Show Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena shows Webby an important part of who she is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is so short. I wanted it to go on the end of the last chapter, but my allergies are acting up and I couldn't fathom working on it (the last chapter) a second longer.

Lena sat at her table, nervously tapping out a beat with her fingers. She hadn’t been to see the Junimos in days, but she was worried. She didn’t want to lie to them about telling Webby about magic. But she was worried that they would tell her not to when she knew that wasn’t an option. She hated the guilt gnawing at her gut, but she knew she wouldn’t change her mind. Couldn’t. She could barely face Webby either, and Webby was definitely starting to notice. She would ask things like “Are you ok?” with genuine sincerity, and it only made Lena’s heart clench harder. But the Spirit’s Eve Festival was coming up soon, she would tell her then. She just had to hold out a couple more days. Gods, did the clock always tick that loud?

 

* * *

 

When Lena walked up, Spirit’s Eve was in full swing. There were hedges planted into the ground outlining the path to the main square. Buffet tables were lined up with appropriately spooky foods, and there was even a cage with a couple of skeletons stumbling around, Storkules leaning against it proudly. Any other time and Lena would have loved this, basking in the dramatic irony in full witch costume, maybe even flexing a bit of her seasonally charged shadow magic. But she had one goal right now. Scanning the party and seeing none of her friends, she took the only other open path, toward the Community Center. At the top of the stairs, she was greeted by the entrance into a hedge maze. 

“Of course.” She chuckled wryly to herself, before stepping inside. Her magical senses showed her the way all the hedge walls had been planted, so she was fairly confident in where she needed to go. 

She first ran into Huey and Dewey. Or rather, they ran past her, yelling something about “winning the race”. She considered calling out to them that they were going the wrong way, but decided that they could figure it out themselves. As she went on, she came across Louie sitting on a TV, looking at his phone. The TV seemed to flicker eerie images every now and then, but Louie wasn’t paying attention, looking instead at…. ‘How to solve a hedge maze.’ “Good luck pal.” She said to him, but got back no response. There must be some sort of cash prize at the end of this thing, there was no other reason he would be researching so thoroughly. Shrugging, she moved on. A few more minutes and she came to a clearing where the waterfall stood. And of the lip of the stone structure sat Violet, notebook on her lap. “Making a map?” Lena asked, sitting down next to her. 

“Yep.” Violet didn’t look up from the notebook. “Looking for Webby?”

“Am I that obvious?”

“No. You’re just always looking for Webby.” Violet gestured with her pencil to the other end of the clearing.

“Thanks, Vi.” Violet held out her fist for the bump, and went back to sketching. A few more turns and suddenly there she was. Hands on her hips, Webby was staring at the hedge wall in front of her. Hearing the leaves crunch behind her, Webby turned around, and beamed when she saw who it was. 

“Lena!” Webby raced over and threw her arms around her, and all Lena’s nerves she thought she had handled tore back through her like buckshot. Still, she couldn’t not hug Webby back. That would just be mean. “What are you doing here?” 

“Heard everyone else was in the maze. Decided to give it a shot.” She lied through her teeth. Now wasn’t the time. Not yet. 

“Awesome! Maybe you can help. I’m sure this should be the way forward, but it’s blocked off.” Webby unwound herself from Lena’s arms and gestured back to the hedge in front of her. “Any ideas?”

Now that she was focusing on it, Lena noticed something odd about the wall. The hedges on either side of her extended further beyond the hedge in front of her. And stranger yet, it gave off no sense of being... _ there.  _ Slowly, Lena reached out a hand to touch it. Right when her fingers were about to brush up against the stalks, it flickered. Lena yanked her hand back in shock, but Webby gasped, her eyes shining with excitement. Reaching out her own hand, she stuck it all the way through to the wrist. “A hologram. I heard Gyro was working on these!” 

Lena put her own fingers against it and shivered a little at the feeling of static spreading up her hand. She stepped through it quickly, and shuddered a little on the other side. “That sure is a feeling.” 

“Uncharted ground!” Webby held up a hand like she was pointing them onward with a sword, and Lena couldn’t help but smile, the scratchy feeling the hologram left her forgotten. “Onward!” 

The path from there on was very straightforward. Scrooge, or whoever made this maze. seemed to have forgone the winding, branching paths after the hologram. It was smooth sailing until they got to the rock face at the back end of the Community Center, where…

“That wasn’t always there, right?” Lena asked Webby, staring into the cave mouth before them. 

“Definitely not.” Webby replied. “I wonder how they dug it out so quickly….Oh damn!” Lena jumped a little, surprised at Webby’s sudden anger. “I left my lantern and night vision goggles back home! Aw, they would have been perfect!”

Lena let out the breath she had been holding. “I’m sure you’ll get another chance to use it. I guess I’ll just cover this one.” 

“Really? How?”

“Check this out.” Lena carefully held Webby’s hand in her own and led them forward into the cave. After they crossed a certain threshold, Webby gasped as a ring on Lena’s finger began to glow bright enough to illuminate Lena’s entire body and easily the cave around them. 

“That’s awesome!” Webby stared at the light, not even caring that it hurt her eyes a little bit. “What is it?”

“A Glow Ring.” Lena carefully led them through the cavern, stepping over the uneven floor. “I found it in the Mines. I have a couple spares if you want one.” Lena nearly tripped over her own foot when she realized she had effectively just offered Webby a ring, but thankfully she didn’t seem to notice or think of it like that.

“Yeah! Thank you!”

The cave was not long, and they could already see the relative light at the end. Walking out, they could see the lights set up around them, but the small square they were in was deceptively unlit. Lena supposed it was to hide the location of the chest that sat in the middle. 

“Woohoo!” Webby cheered, letting go of Lena’s hand and racing over to the chest. “We did it!” From somewhere else in the maze, Lena heard a faint “Aw man!” 

Webby had both hands on the lid before she stopped. “I, uh, well you were the one who figured out the hologram and lit up the cave. The prize should be yours.” Webby stepped away and rubbed the back of her neck. 

Smiling, Lena walked over the pumpkin-themed tarp covering the ground. “Well, you would have figured it out yourself. So how about we split it?” Lena put one hand on the lid of the chest. Webby seemed like she was going to argue, but after looking at Lena for a long moment, she smiled and put her own hand on the other side. “Deal.” Together, they lifted the lid. 

“Woah.” Lena was almost speechless, reaching in and lifting out the massive gilded pumpkin. It wasn’t real, never was, but it seemed like solid metal. “This thing must be worth a lot.” She said, handing it over to Webby, who hefted the weight with a low whistle.

“No kidding.” Standing up, she turned it to catch the faint light from the lights outside the clearing. “The boys are going to be so jealous. Let’s go show them.”

“Uh, actually.” Webby turned back to see that Lena was still kneeling by the opened chest. “I actually have something to show you. And this seems like the perfect place.” 

“Oh! Uh, sure.” Holding the pumpkin under her arm, Webby walked back over and sat cross-legged next to Lena. “What’s up?”

Lena took a deep, shaky breath. Showtime. Pulling aside a section of the tarp to reveal the dirt underneath, she took out a trowel and started digging a small hole. “Bear with me for a second.” She couldn’t help a nervous laugh from bubbling up as she put her trowel away and took a seed packet out of her back pocket. Tearing it open, she pulled out a single seed and dropped it into the dirt, before swiftly covering it up. Webby watched on silently, already buzzing with questions but knowing that if she was patient most of them would be answered. Placing her hands on either side of the disturbed dirt, Lena closed her eyes. “Here we go.” She whispered to herself. Looking inward, she found the wellspring of her magic and drew it out, carefully weaving it in her mind to do what she wished. 

Webby gasped quietly as the green streak in Lena’s hair began to glow, and watched as a stalk poked up out of the disturbed dirt. Like watching a video on fast forward, the stalk grew and grew, sprouting leaves and bunches which burst open into a purple flower. The glow in Lena’s hair faded, but Webby couldn’t tear her eyes from the fully grown fairy rose in front of her. Gently picking it out of the ground, Lena held it out to Webby, who managed to tear her eyes away. Lena was looking off to the side, unable to meet her eyes. “Tadaa.” She whispered. 


	13. Emotionally Charged

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena tells her story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You remember the "childhood trauma" tag that popped up here a while ago? This is where that comes into play. Just a heads up.

_ Magica de Spell stood at the edge of the ritual circle, looking over the symbols before her. Smirking to herself, she closed her eyes and began to chant. At first, nothing happened, but as the incantation wore on, the lighting in the room changed. Or at least, seemed to change, the way the shadows were moving. Regardless of the light sources in the room, the shadows began sliding over the floor, angling themselves to the center of the circle, where Magica’s own shadow was cast. The other shadows then started to almost drip, slowly leaking toward Magica’s like water down a drain. The droplets of darkness pooled in the center of the circle, merging into Magica’s shadow and turning it darker. Soon it was barely a shadow, too dark, as if the light was scared to reach it. Magica’s chanting rose to a fever pitch, her voice crying out in indecipherable words that slid off the mind like oil. The pitch-black spot on the floor began to seethe, pulling and stretching into the third dimension. A form began to struggle into reality, falling apart almost as quickly as it was made. And elbow here, a foot there, but as the chant wore on the forms held longer and longer, shifting from a liquid to a sort of gelatin  _ (Lena recalled the dark sense of wrongness she felt. The overwhelming desire to take her half-formed hands and tear herself apart, to return to the shadow form she naturally was, but being unable to because of the invocation. Here, in the safety of her own home, she wondered aloud if the urge ever truly went away.) _. Finally, Magica de Spell shouted her final word as loud as she was able. A darkness passed over the mind, blocking out reality for an undying moment. When it passed, Lena de Spell sat in the center of a burned-out spell circle, gasping for breath.  _

* * *

_ Lena collapsed down onto her bed, exhausted. Her basement room was not glamorous, not by a long shot. Some might call it a cell, but they would be mistaken, for there was no window to put bars on. A tattered bed, a nightstand with a missing leg, and a lamp that turned itself off every twelve minutes were all the things she had to her name. Still, the room was her own, and she took every comfort she could in it. Magica trained her mercilessly, demanding stronger and stronger spells held for more and more time. Lena was unable to refuse, bound to do as her creator ordered. Breaks were short if any, and the training went on for at least 14 hours a day, she thought. There were no clocks, the blinds were always drawn over the windows, and Magica never saw fit to tell her the time. Unable to keep her eyes open, Lena fell into another fitful sleep of many.  _

* * *

_ Lena wasn’t sure for how long she put up with her Purgatory Hell before she snapped. It could have been weeks, months, maybe years. But eventually, she knew she couldn’t take it anymore. She needed to see more, more than the two rooms that made up her entire life. Sneaking up the basement stairs, skipping the creaky floorboards, she stood before the door. With a whispered word and the energy drawn out of a carrot she snuck into her pocket, the lock clicked open. Slowly, oh so slowly, she slid out and looked down the hallway. Empty. Magica should have been out, but she was never sure. Slowly, she crept down the hallway, stopping in front of Magica’s room. Trying the handle, she found the door unlocked and gently pushed it open. _

_ Magica’s room was, if nothing else, a reflection of the occupant. The lights cast odd shadows across the room, large patches unilluminated. Two massive bookshelves dominated two of the four walls, laden to the breaking with old, worn tomes. On the far end of the room sat her desk, dark wood carved in intricate patterns that in normal light would be gorgeous, but in the current lighting hurt Lena’s head to look at. Making her way carefully around the desk, Lena saw a book thicker than any other in the center. Flipping open to a random page, it seemed to be a book of ancient, dark spells. Turning to the bookmarked page, whatever passed for Lena’s blood ran cold. The top was titled  _ “Permanent possession and consciousness overriding of an individual.”  _ The diagrams sickened her, and she quickly turned away.  _

_ “What are you doing here?” There in the doorway stood Magica herself. She would have looked almost silly with the grocery bags in her hands, were it not for the blazing fury in her eyes. _

_ “You were going to do this to me, weren’t you?” Lena’s voice was hoarse with underuse, but she didn’t flinch. She had to get away. “You monster!” Magica stormed into the room, and she bolted around the opposite way, beelining for the door.  _

_ “Get out!” Magica shouted at her, and she was all too happy to comply. Skidding to a halt in the hallway, she turned for the door to the outside world and was just about to put down her foot when a “STOP.” rang out. Her body locked up, and her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. “I think you’re forgetting who’s in charge here, GOLEM. Turn around.” Lena could do nothing as her body rotated 180 degrees, back to the basement door, still open from her escape. The yawning darkness seemed to call to her, but Lena didn’t want to go. “March.” Lena began striding dutifully toward the door, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her emotions raged inside her, and she had the deep-rooted feeling that if she walked back down those basement stairs, she would never come up again. The darkness would swallow her whole, subsume her back into itself. Panic overwhelmed her like a tidal wave as she got closer and closer, and summoning from reserves of strength she didn’t even know she had, her hand shot out and gripped the doorframe. “No!”  _

_ “What was that?” Magica’s voice felt like icicles under her skin. “I said MARCH.” Her body jerked, but her fingers held firm, four fragile digits the last thread of a rope keeping her from falling into the abyss. She drew upon the strength her manic fear gave her, pushing back against the doorframe and propelling herself a few steps back from the edge.  _

_ “No!”  _

_ Turning, she saw Magica staring at her with jaw hanging open, stunned at her creation’s defiance. Shaking herself to her senses, she bore down on Lena like a mountain. “Fine, I’ll just throw you down there myself!” She went to grab Lena, and acting on instinct, Lena swung her hand in an arc across her body. A well of force followed the arc of her hand, taking Magica and slamming her into the wall hard enough to crack the drywall. Not wasting her opportunity, Lena raced to the front door and threw it open, feeling the cool air on her face for the first time in her life. She didn’t stop to appreciate it, however, focusing instead on running. She ran fast, stumbling and tripping and nearly breaking her ankles many times. She could only feel the panic, the knowledge that the place where Magica was held only death for her, and the NEED to get away, far far away. She ran for hours, too far gone to think of anything else, until she collapsed on the side of the road, sobbing into the dirt.  _

* * *

“So I was homeless for a while. I did magic tricks on the street, which became jobs where people didn’t ask questions, which became forging papers for jobs where people do ask questions. Eventually, I got my crappy apartment and crappy well-paying job, and that’s where I stayed until I got the letter from Scrooge.” Lena blinked and refocused. At some point in the story, Webby had curled herself around Lena. She sat in her lap, arms wrapped tightly around Lena’s torso as Lena ran fingers through her hair. Lena couldn’t tell who was comforted by it more. 

“Uh, Webby?” Webby didn’t respond and with her face buried in Lena’s shirt, she had no idea what the shorter duck was feeling. “Hey, uh, that’s pretty much the end of the story. So, feel free to throw in your own two cents now.” 

Webby was silent for another long moment, and Lena wondered if she was going to have to pry her off, until Webby spoke. “What was that? I couldn’t hear you through my shirt.”

Lifting her head from Lena’s shirt, Lena was shocked at the tears in Webby’s eyes. Almost as shocked as she was at the barely-contained rage in her eyes. “If she weren’t already dead, I’d kill her myself.” 

Lena felt the seriousness in her words, and wasn’t sure how to take the sudden flip from the cheery midwestern towngirl to stone-cold killer. “She wouldn’t be worth the bruises on your knuckles.” She caught her mouth saying.

“I wouldn’t use my fists. She deserves a much slower death than that.”

“I, uh, you’re kinda freaking me out here Pink.”

“You deserve so much better.” Suddenly Webby had her hands on either side of Lena’s head, staring into her eyes with blazing intensity. 

“What?” Lena couldn’t keep up with the mood snaps, emotionally worn out from retelling her story.

“You’re such an amazing person Lena. You deserve so much more than life has given you. And I want you to have it. I want to give it to you. I want to give you the moon and the sun and all the stars in the sky. I want you to have every good moment, every hot meal and warm hug and action movie and climbed tree.” Lena couldn’t tell if the wetness on her cheeks were her tears, Webby’s, or both. “I want...I want to kiss you.” Lena didn’t think her eyes could go any wider, but they sure tried. “May I? May I please kiss you?” Lena was dimly aware that Webby sounded like a mortal asking for a favor from a god, but she couldn’t focus too hard on the thought over the ringing in her ears. All she could do was nodd her head against Webby’s. Webby moved one of her hands to Lena’s cheek, and the other onto her shoulder, and slowly leaned her face closer. 

Lena had never kissed anyone before, and neither hand Webby. Neither knew what was the right way, but when Webby’s beak met hers the realization sparked in Lena that maybe there wasn’t a wrong way. It was awkward and uneven, nothing like the things you see in the romance movies. But Lena’s eyes slid closed all the same, her mind incapable of processing all the sensations she was experiencing. Her arm drifted around Webby’s back, feeling the solid muscles underneath her skin, and the other wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She slowly became aware of the burning in her chest, and broke away to take a gasping breath. Looking at Webby, she saw the other woman barely changed her breathing and couldn’t stop her comment from bubbling up. “No fair...spy training.” Webby only smiled at her. “I could...I could do that again.” The pair looked at each other for another moment before meeting in the middle. Lena slowly slid sideways on her couch until Webby was laying across her, neither breaking away this time, holding as tight to each other as they could. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya gotta read the angst, to get the romance.


	14. Ask Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty self-explanatory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case I didn't make it clear in the last chapter, the Stardew Valley house Lena is living in now is NOT the one she was created in. Magica moved after Lena escaped.

“So...about yesterday…” Lena scuffed her shoe on _Beakley's General Store_ floor and desperately tried to keep her head up, keep her eyes on this tortuously awkward situation.

Winter was breathing its frigid breath down everyone’s back, but Fall had one last gasp left in the form of today. The weather was predicting heavy snow tomorrow, and the boys were already formulating optimal ambush points for snowball fights. But Lena was too distracted to worry about much of that. 

“Haha...yeah. I guess we should...talk about that.” Webby drummed her fingers on the counter, and Lena could hear the tension behind her ever-cheerful voice. Taking a deep breath, Webby clenched her fists. “I’m sorry!” She practically shouted. Lena’s eyes widened and her head jerked to the door into the living area of the house. She really didn’t need Beakly walking in on this conversation. After a few stressful seconds, she felt comfortable assuming she wasn’t coming. She turned back to Webby to find the woman rambling. 

“...emotionally taxing story, and you were vulnerable and I took adv-” 

“Woah woah! Stop that thought right there!” Lena put her hand over Webby’s, and the younger (legally) duck’s teeth shut with an audible _click._ “You did not take advantage of anyone. You asked me, and I said yes. And I _meant_ yes. And…” Lena’s throat seemed to fill with sand all of a sudden, but she powered through. “And I still mean it.”

“Really?” Webby’s eyes sparkled with excitement at what she was pretty sure she was hearing. 

“Really. But,” Lena pried Webby’s fingers out of the fist and carefully entwined them with her own. “Maybe not as... _quickly_ as yesterday.” 

“Ha, yeah that was a little intense wasn’t it?” Lena couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied at the blush tinting Webby’s cheeks. 

“A bit. I wish I could stay and talk more, but I have a farm to run, and you have a store to manage.” Lena brought the back of Webby’s hand up and gently kissed it. “See you after closing time?”

“Duuuh, uhm, yeah! You know it!” Webby looked like she was overheating, so with a laugh and a wave, Lena took her exit. Stepping out into the cool air, she felt more refreshed than she had all year.

 

* * *

 

 

Standing in front of the massive sewer pipe, Lena tried not to gag. She lived on a farm, so she was used to disturbing smells, but even this was a lot. Looking down at the key Duckworth had given her. (“I have no use for it, I suppose you could find one.”) she slid it into the lock. Perfect fit. Pulling the massive grate open, she held her nose and stepped in. Thankfully there seemed to be a walkway cutting through the waste, because Lena really didn’t feel like getting any of this “water” on her boots. Following the path, she squinted in the darkness until it split off into two directions. Choosing to go straight on, she came to a ladder. Taking her fingers off her nose, Lena climbed until she bonked her head on something. 

“Ow,” she muttered, rubbing her skull. Feeling up, she gave the ceiling a few solid shoves, but to no avail. Running her hand over the surface, she found a sturdy latch. Pulling it, she tried again and found the thing open with ease. Blinking against the harsh sunlight, she stuck her head up and looked around. Spying the graveyard in front of her, and stream behind her, she quickly triangulated she was just south of the town square. “Huh. Ok, good to know.” Taking a last breath of clean air, she descended back down the ladder, making sure to leave the latch open for later. Backtracking to the split, she followed the alternate path for a while. Lena almost started to zone out until she felt a twinge in the back of her mind, and looked further into the gloom for what caused it. On a mat surrounded by statues stood a shadow brute. She almost drew her sword on it, but she saw that it wasn’t actually moving. Carefully, she approached it. She always felt a strange sort of kin with these creatures, and always felt bad when she had to kill them. “Hey, uh, what’re you doing down here?”

“A human visitor! Most unusual. I’m Krobus, merchant of rare and exotic goods. Please take a look at my stock.”

"Eh, close enough." Lena muttered, before speaking directly to Krobus. "So you're ok with humans? Most magical creatures-"

"Aren't? Yes, I know. But I'm confident in my ability to diffuse a situation."

"Interesting." Lena stored that info away for later and looked down at the mat. She saw that there were a few items laid out, with price cards in front. One was very familiar, and she knelt to examine the Stardrop first. It was in a small display case, probably to keep it quarantined from the sewer environment. Lena’s mind wandered back to the feeling she experienced eating her first one, and the other shortly thereafter she found on floor 100 of the mines. It never ceased to be as exhilarating and didn’t leave her with a hangover or craving more. In fact, she usually felt a lot better after she had one, and it never seemed to fade. She had enough gold, but it would leave her pretty low. With only another moment of thought, she dropped the gold down onto the mat and took the fruit. 

“Ah. Wise choice.”

“I’ve had a couple.” Pocketing the Stardrop for later, she moved down the line. There was a fireplace that looked like some sort of cat with its mouth open, a statue for a religion Lena remembered was fairly common, but she herself did not partake in, a pile of slime goo, and some folded pieces of paper which Lena recognized as summoning recipes. When she got to the last item, however, she was nearly knocked on her butt. The magical energy coming off of it was overpowering. Lifting it carefully off the mat, she held the staff in her hands reverently. “This is an Old Relic.” She whispered. 

Although she despised her time with Magica, the things she learned were useful. Old Relics were objects created back when magic was at it’s most powerful. Relics like these could bend the fabric of reality, preforming spells almost instantly and with little to no drain on the wielder. The one she held now was thrumming in her hand, desperate to be used. 

“You have a very discerning eye…”

“Lena.”

“Lena. Yes, that is the Return Scepter. Held aloft, it will return you to your home in moments, no matter where in the world you are.” Not the flashiest or most combat-useful spell, but that just meant it would last all the longer. Lena wanted desperately to own it, but one look at the price and she winced. 2 million gold. Lena wasn’t sure if she had made that much in her entire time in the Valley, let alone had enough to buy. Sighing, she placed the Scepter carefully back on the mat.

“That’s way out of my price range.”

“My apologies. You understand that I simply cannot go lower on such a powerful item though?”

“Yeah yeah. I gotcha.” Lena began backing toward the exit. “I’ve gotta head out. Nice meeting you Krobus!”

“Safe travels Lena!” Krobus called after her. 

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey, quick question.” 

“What is it, Lena?” 

Lena sat on one of the old, torn chairs scattered around the community center, fiddling with the discarded hour hand from the clock outside. She had honestly considered taking it for the aesthetic alone, seeing as no one was using it. But it still felt like stealing somehow, so she settled for playing with it in the run-down building exclusively. Maybe she could ask Selene to forge her a duplicate.

“Would you be opposed to….meeting one of the citizens who live here?” 

The Junimo stopped bouncing on the end of the hour hand and turned to look at her. “Why?”

“I… _may_ have told someone about my ‘birth’. The truth. And therefore about….magic.” Lena drummed her fingers along her arm nervously. “I didn’t tell them about your existence!” She hurried in. “But I think she-THEY. They can be a big help.”

“Oh? And why is that?” The Junimo didn’t sound mad like she had expected, so Lena hesitantly continued. 

“Well, they’re really smart, and probably know a lot about this area. They could help me find most of the things on this list without too much suspicion. They’re loyal, and won’t reveal your secret. I know that they’d love you if they met you, and want to help even more.” 

The Junimo did nothing but stare at her for a long moment. “I’ll have to ask the others.”

“Sure. I’ll wait here. I have another thing to give you afterword anyway.” 

“Are you blackmailing me?”

“No no!” Lena waved her hands in front of her face. “I’m giving it to you either way. Just figured we could do the question first. Cross my heart.” Lena made an _X_ motion over her chest but stopped partway through. “Well, I don’t think I have a heart, but you get it.”

“Very well.” The Junimo dropped off the clock hand and waddled over to a hole in the wall, disappearing from view. Lena stood up from her seat, wandering around the room and shadow-fencing with the clock hand. She balanced it on top of her bill(or attempted to), treated it like a cane in a broadway dance number, and was just considering trying to throw it like a spear before the Junimos, all of them, filed out of the walls. Quickly laying her big toy down on a table and attempting to look like an adult, Lena knelt down to converse with the forest spirits. 

“This person you speak of,” the Junimo in front of her spoke. “Is it true you already told her of your creation?”

“Yes.” Lena replied, accepting that they were dropping the “they” pretense. 

“And you trust her?”

“I do.” 

“Very well. You can bring her here tomorrow night.” 

“Really? That’s excellent!” Lena grinned. “Well, like I said I was going to give you this anyway, but now we can call it a thank-you gift.” Walking back over to her backpack, she pulled out a small blue object. Turning back to the Junimos, she cupped the frozen tear in her hands. “Last one.” Striding over to the boiler room as the Junimos began to chitter excitedly, she carefully laid the tear into the ritual pedestal. As she pulled her hand away, she felt a wave of magic roll over her. The pedestal began to glow, a soft white at first, but quickly growing brighter and brighter, until she had to shield her eyes and turn away. For the next couple of seconds, all she could do is listen to the Junimos hopping up and down and try not to be swept away by the force radiating from the ritual. When the light dies down enough for her to peak her eyes open, her jaw dropped in shock. The room looked like it was brand new. The old, weathered stone floor had been cleaned and patched, the rusted pipes had been polished to a sheen and the furnace had been completely refurbished, with a fresh supply of coal by its side. Lena admired the room for a few more moments before backtracking out to the main room. 

When she got there, she noticed the old plaque on the wall had one of its empty spaces filled with a gold star, although the rest of the room looked the same. With no warning, a Junimo lept up into her arms, Lena catching it on reflex alone. “Thank you Lena!” it cheered in her arms. “Oh, this is only the beginning! With this energy, we can begin to bring this town back to it’s former glory!” The Junimo hopped out of her arms and put it’s twig-like arms against her ankle, pushing her toward the door. “Go, rest. We have much work to do tonight, and you have even more tomorrow!” Lena let the Junimo push her toward the door, and with a quick wave, she was back out into the cold night air, gentle powdery snow already falling around her. 

 

* * *

 

 

_K-chunk k-chunk k-chunk K-CHUNK K-CHUNK._

Lena cracked her eye open groggily. Floundering at her nightstand, she found her alarm clock and brought it up to her face. 4:45 AM. 

“Who is up this early?” Lena groaned as she ran a hand over her face.

“Whoever it is, you’d better go tell them to go back to bed, before I put them to sleep permanently,” Familiar grumbled from his spot. 

With a heave, Lena pulled herself out of bed and threw on her boots. Opening the door, she saw the ground was already covered in half an inch of snow and added her jacket to her early morning attire. Shuffling over to the path behind her farm, where the noise was coming from, Lena was preparing her shouting voice but stopped when she saw who it was. Standing in a semicircle were all the people in town, and as Lena watched, another _K-CHUNK_ signaled the arrival of a minecart, Dewey inside. “It goes all the way to the mineshaft and Selene’s! The path to the quarry is still damaged though.” 

Lena decided that shouting at the top of her lungs wasn’t appealing this early in the morning, and carefully picked her way down a hill to the highway below, and walked over. “What’s going on?” she asked as she approached the group.

“It’s the strangest thing lass,” Scrooge spoke, “These rails have been derelict for almost as long as I’ve been mayor, but I woke up this morning and they were good as new!” 

“I’ve been trying to renovate these rails for years, and here they are undamaged!” Gyro threw his hands in the air. “It’s like magic!” 

Lena couldn’t stop herself from twitching when he said that, and she caught the glance Webby cast over to her. “So does this mean I can look forward to more 5 AM visitors in my backyard? Because if so, I might as well turn off my alarm.” 

Scrooge winced. “Right. Alright everyone, let’s sleep on this and come back to it later, I’m sure Lena has a lot of work to do!” Lena squeezed Webby’s hand as the crowd dispersed back up the road, hoping the gesture conveyed her _“I’ll tell you later.”_


	15. Slumber Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What better way to spend time with your new girlfriend?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll admit, we're getting to a section of the story that's a little fuzzy in my head.

“Wow,” Webby whispered as she looked around the community center’s main room. A sea of Junimos bobbed in front of her, chittering nervously. Leaning over to Lena, Webby whispered “What are they saying? Are they even saying anything?”

“They are,” Lena whispered back, even though she knew the Junimos could hear them. “They’re kind of nervous meeting you. They don’t see mortals, or even other people outside their species often.”

“Ok. That’s good to know because I do really feel the urge to geek out right now,” Lena could see it in Webby’s eyes, the energy straining to explode free “but I will stay calm, and not scare anyone.” Webby began to get down on a knee, and the Junimos darted backward. Freezing mid-kneel, which gave Lena a very distracting view of the young woman’s calf muscles, Webby put her hands out disarmingly and lowered herself even more slowly. “Hi. My name is Webbigail Vanderquack, but most people just call me Webby. It’s an honor to meet you.” The Junimos chirped amongst themselves for a minute, and when she turned to look back at Lena, she got an encouraging smile and thumbs-up. Eventually, a Junimo bounced forward and jumped up onto her knee. It stared Webby in the eyes for a long moment, before taking a twig-arm and patting the side of her face, and hopping down.

“Uuuhhhh….” 

“That was good!” Lena walked over and offered Webby a hand up, which she took and didn’t let go of  _ right  _ away. “They like you. They’re not ready to give you the talking leaf yet, but they like you. They probably won’t hide from you if you come alone.” Lena led Webby over to a torn, off-color couch. The two sat down, and almost immediately a Junimo appeared in Lena’s lap for her to pet. Webby was struck by the adorableness for a few moments before the words sunk in.

“Wait, the what leaf?”

“It’s not actually called the talking leaf.” Lena explained. “And it’s not a leaf that talks. It’s just a leaf imbued with a bunch of nature magic, enough to sort of jumpstart the stuff inside you. If you have an aptitude and some practice” Lena pointed to herself “it can lead to some interesting spells. Even if you don’t though, it’ll let you understand their language.”

“That’s amazing.” Webby rolled the Junimo’s antenna between her fingers, before almost jumping out of her skin. When had one gotten onto her lap? 

Lena snorted and put her hand on Webby’s shoulder. “Crafty little apples huh? You look like you’re about to explode, come on. Let me show you something cool.” Lena carefully lifted the Junimos off of her and Webby’s laps and led her over to the boiler room. “As I’m sure you’ve noticed, this place kind of looks like a dump.” 

“It could use a bit of fixing-upping.” Webby agreed as she stepped over a hole in the floorboards.

“Well, prepare to be amazed.” Lena stopped in the boiler room doorway and turned to face Webby. With a sly grin, she lifted her arms in a dramatic flair and spun to the side. 

Webby’s eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. “Woah.” she marveled at the pristine room. “I heard stories about this place in it’s prime, but they don’t even come close.” She looked around for another moment before her eyes gravitated back to Lena, like always it seemed. “This, and the minecarts? How?” 

“Very strong magic rituals. Powered by this stuff.” Lena pulled out a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it over. Unfolding it, Webby quickly scanned down the list. A lot of the items were crossed out, and in the case of the boiler room, the whole section had a line through it. “Once I finish it all….well I don’t know what happens. But it was Magica’s fault the Junimos left, so I’m going to make it right. So if you have any idea about where some of this stuff is, I’ll take any help I can get.”

Looking back down to the list, Webby saw some of the items had small question marks noted in the margins. 

“Hhhhmmmm….well I know a bunch of places where these plants grow.” Webby pointed to the winter foraging section. “We could go check them, and even if nothing’s there, maybe you could do some…” Webby wiggled her fingers in the air.

“I do happen to be an expert at-” Lena copied the wiggling gesture, and the two women laughed together. Webby looked back down to the list, furrowing her brows until her eyes caught one of the items. “Oh! Fiddlehead Fern!” 

“Yeah, I can’t find it anywhere around town, and no-one seems to know anything about it.”

“You have to go to the Secret Woods!”

“The huh where now?”

Webby grinned brightly to Lena, who couldn’t help a small smile in return. “Violet found a really calming spot behind Gyro’s lab while she was surveying for a project spot. She told me about it, and no-one else. It’s a great place to hang out. We’ve picked a bunch of Fiddlehead Ferns there!” Webby’s face fell a bit. “I don’t think I have any though, and it only grows in the summer.” 

“It’s fine. Just knowing where is more than enough help.” Lena wrapped Webby’s hand in her own. “Besides, who knows, maybe I can…” Lena wiggled her fingers again. The two shared a smile before a  _ beep  _ at Lena’s wrist interrupted them. Sighing, she looked down at the time “Well, I guess it’s bedtime.” 

“Really? Bedtime?” Webby asked, curious and  _ just  _ a little teasing. 

“Well some of us can’t sustain the schedule of waking up at 6 AM every day and going to bed at 2 AM at night. I like to sleep, and I’d like to at least  _ pretend  _ to get a full 8 hours of it.” 

“Hm. Fair point. I do miss having a sleep schedule that matches up with everyone else’s.” Webby waved as they walked by the Junimos toward the front door. Lena was silent for a while, but she couldn’t stop the words forever. 

“You know, I have to say I think the whole ‘spy-training’ thing is cool, but it also seems a bit...cruel.”

Webby flashed a smile, but there was a tightness to it. “She’s just worried. She and my parents made a bunch of enemies over the years, and they want me to be able to handle myself if one of them comes.”

“Well….Ok yeah, I guess that seems fair. But if you ever need a break, my door’s open.” 

“Like a sleepover?” Webby’s eyes lit up.

“Sure thing.” Lena grinned. “If you can swing it, or sneak out, we can have a sleepover. Maybe even invite Violet and the boys a couple of days.” Lena took Webby’s face in one hand, leaning down and kissing her cheek. “We’re here you know.” 

Webby blinked a couple of times and looked over. They were indeed standing in front of  _ Beakley’s _ front door, and they had been for five minutes. “Oh! Right. This is the part where I go inside, and go to bed, and see you again tomorrow.”

“That is usually the case,” Lena replied, but a sly smile crept onto her face. “Although, if you want to go off script a bit, I won’t say no.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you snuck out, right?”

“Yeah?”

“So there’s not really anything stopping us from having our first sleepover right now, is there?”

“Ooooohhhh!” Webby bounced up and down a bit as the excitement began to take over. “I guess not.” The joy dimmed for a minute. “But if I get caught…”

“We can set an alarm. Nice and early.” 

“You were going to bed.”

“I can make an extra hour or two for you,” Lena said sincerely. She saw Webby was still on the fence though and knew she had to pull her trump card. “You can see my cat agaaaiiin~” Lena grinned as the last of the doubt was washed out of Webby’s eyes. 

“Ok. Let’s do it.”

Lena put up a fist and stage-whispered “Woohoo! Teenage rebellion!”

“Neither of us are teenagers.” Webby pointed out with a smile as they crunched their way across the snow to Lena’s house. 

“I’d say we’re still within the age range for it.”

 

* * *

 

The sleepover ended up not being as active as they thought. After a decent amount of cat-petting (which Familiar ate up, and would be talking about for weeks), Webby and Lena just gorged themselves on a cake Lena was saving and crashed on Lena’s bed. When she woke up though, Webby couldn’t deny that was one of the best night’s rest she had ever felt. She felt Lena’s arm over her waist tighten and knew that was not how they fell asleep, although she didn’t think she would be complaining too much. Looking over at Lena’s alarm clock, Webby pursed her lips. 3:30 AM. She had to go. Carefully wiggling out of Lena’s arm, it broke her heart when a tiny frown crossed over her slumbering face and she pulled her arm back, curling into herself. Kissing the green and purple streaks in her hair, Webby pulled the covers up over her and whispered: “Stay warm, you beautiful lady,” satisfied when Lena relaxed. 

Tiptoeing out of the bedroom, she saw Familiar looking at her and froze solid. “Look, I don’t want to leave,” Webby whispered to him as she carefully ran a hand over his back, “But I have to get home before Granny suspects anything. Then I won’t be able to do this ever again.” Familiar looked at her for another long moment, before jerking his head to the side and licking the hand Webby was petting him with. 

“Glad you understand.” Webby gave him one last scratch behind an ear, before sneaking over to the front door. Grabbing her jacket off the hook, she slid it on but paused with her hand on the doorknob. She couldn’t shake the shameful feeling that this was one of those walks-of-shame she read about, where one person would leave early in the morning to avoid being associated with the other they spent the night with. Webby knew that wasn’t how she felt, but the similarities were uncanny. “Tell….tell her I won’t be gone forever. I’ll come back, ok?” Webby turned to look at the cat, who purred in response. “Oh-kay.” she exhaled, before swiftly pulling the door open and slipping out into the early morning. 

“I think she already knows.” Familiar said to the closed door, before hopping back onto the couch to resume his nap. 


	16. Explained Actions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little events, like someone moving to a new town, can cause big changes, especially in the people living there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay. This is still in that grey unplanned area of the story, so the motivation is not strong. But we should be pulling through it soon.

“Aha!” Webby cried triumphantly as she held up a Snow Yam. “This sucker was buried waaay in there.” Getting up off her knees, she brushed the snow off her pants and handed the fruit to Lena. 

Taking it, Lena turned the Yam over in her hands. “Perfect. This is the last ingredient we need for the Craft Room.” Securing it safely in her backpack, she kissed Webby on the temple and pulled out the journal Webby had gotten her (“I respect the single sheet, I do! But it’s kind of...ragged.”) and flipped it open. “Gotta wait on the crops….gotta wait on the fish...did the mine...can’t make the Fern grow until next season...And not enough gold for the last of those bundles-”

“How’d you get the most expensive one first?” Webby asked as they took off their boots in Lena’s living room. 

“I got a whole lot of high-quality watermelon at once when I grew my whole field by accident, then the Crop Fairy came by and grew it for me again.”

“There’s a crop fairy?” Lena looked over and saw Webby had her own journal out, looking at Lena excitedly.

“I think it was more  _ The  _ Crop Fairy. She’s just a bit shorter than you, pink wings with a crown on her head.” Lena knew it was dangerous bringing magical beings so close to the public conscious, but she trusted Webby. And who knows, maybe she would want to be a witch one day? And if she did, Lena considered herself a much more user-friendly source of knowledge then stuffy Olde-English books. “She didn’t actually speak to me, now that I think about it.” 

Webby nodded as she finished her notetaking, before closing the journal and stowing it away. 

“I should head back. I have a lot to finish this afternoon if I want to be free for the ritual tonight.” Webby got into what had become their nonverbal communication for a kiss, standing up on her tiptoes, pursing her lips, and screwing her eyes shut. Lena laughed, leaning down and meeting Webby’s lips with her own. The two held there for a minute, save Lena putting her hand on Webby’s cheek, before breaking away. 

“11 at the Center? And leave the notebook somewhere safe at home, it might make the Junimo nervous.” 

“11 at the Center! Notebook at home!” Webby called back as she pulled open Lena’s door, and with one last bright smile and wave, she was gone. 

* * *

“Sunglasses?”

“Trust me. The first time, and only other time, I did this it blinded me for like ten minutes.”

Webby shrugged before sliding the shades over her eyes. With a nod, Lena turned back to face the assembled Junimos. “Your Snow Yam, courtesy of our friendly neighborhood Webby.” Lena pulled the Yam out of her bag. The Junimo began bouncing in anticipation as she walked over and laid the Yam in it’s place on the pedestal. Stepping back, Lena grinned as the soft white glow started. As the light intensified, she winced more out of reflex than anything else, but with the shades on she was able to handle the glare and watched as the ingredients seemed to dissolve away into their magical essence. Looking to her left, she couldn’t help the prideful feeling in her chest at the look of awe on Webby’s face. She grabbed hold of Webby’s hand as the ritual began to exert it’s force, although she shouldn’t have bothered. If anything, Webby was holding her in place. 

And just like that, it was over. The pair slowly removed their shades, distracted by the room. Where only a worn, rotting bookshelf and equally decrepit logs were, in their place were crafting tools of all shapes and sizes. A spinning wheel sat in one corner, thread lined up along a shelf next to it, scarves and sweaters in potentia. A whiteboard lay across a table, markers and eraser ready to sketch out plans (Lena could practically see the triplets there now), easels and containers of modeling clay lined the last wall, wood ready for carving beside to it. Lena was so caught up in the drastic change to the room, she wasn’t ready for Webby to jump into her arms, and she nearly went to the ground. 

“This is amazing.” She said breathlessly, and before Lena could even come up with some deflection or self-deprecating comment, Webby planted a deep kiss on her beak and Lena suddenly couldn’t remember what she wanted to say. Webby pulled back and gave her another intense look. “You’ve done so much for this town, are doing so much for this town.  _ You’re  _ amazing.” 

Lena felt tears pricking the corners of her eyes, and couldn’t find it in her to say no to another sleepover.

 

Opening her eyes, Lena drearily relished the feeling of Webby’s form curled up around her own.  _ I wonder what the Junimos changed in town this time. _

…

“Shit!” Lena shot up to a sitting position. 

“What? What is it?” Webby asked a split second later, seemingly instantly awake.

“The minecarts. Last time I did a ritual, they fixed the minecarts. If they change something again, and you aren’t at home when your grandmother gets up to investigate….” Lena trailed off, but Webby was already vaulting out of the bed. Shoving her boots on, she forwent putting on her jacket now for dashing out the door and doing it on the way. Lena, in her panic, followed. After a very tense fifteen-minute dash, they slid to a halt outside Beakley’s door, and thankfully there seemed to be no lights on. The pair breathed a sigh of relief, and Webby was just opening her mouth to say-

“Uuuhhh, what’re you guys doing here?” 

Turning, the saw Huey Dewey and Louie on the path going past the Comunity Center. 

“We, uh, well what are YOU doing here? At-” Lena checked her watch “2:45 in the morning. Jeez.”

“Storkules called Uncle Donald. Said something was happening at the Old Quarry. Donald grumbled it off, but we wanted to go see.” Louie narrowed his eyes. “What’s with the PJs? Little far from home to be out in lounge pants, Lena.” Lena looked down and saw that she was indeed still wearing her tank top and pajama pants. 

For the first time, she couldn’t come up with a good lie. “Well….I uh, I mean-”

“It’s clear they were having a sleepover.” Violet walked up behind Lena. “They boys told me about the anomaly they wanted to investigate by the Quarry.” Violet slid off her jacket and handed it to Lena, who was just beginning to realize she was cold.

“Sleepover?!” The boys exclaimed, and Webby hushed them.

“Et tu, Brutus?” Lena asked, although she did take the jacket.

“They were going to figure out eventually.” Violet shrugged. “While we’re all here, shall we go investigate together?” Webby and Lena shared a quick nervous glance, but being with the four others would be much better cover for their relationship, so in the end they agreed. 

“I can’t believe you had a sleepover without us!” Dewey cried indignantly as they slogged through the snow. 

“It was kind of an impromptu thing,” Webby answered.

“Yeah, you can come to the next one if you want,” Lena added, stepping over a rock. “And you.” she turned to Violet, who nodded appreciatively.

“Nah, we’ve got better things to do.” Dewey replied, but before anyone else could respond, Huey slapped him in the back of the head. 

“No we don’t, dingus. It’s the middle of winter. You were just complaining about how there’s nothing to do.”

“They didn’t need to know that!” He hissed through his teeth. 

“Yo! Huey, Dingus, Louie. We’re here.” The group was standing at the edge of a bridge, and any angry response at Dewey’s new nickname died on his lips when he saw it. 

“Woah, this bridge has been broken for years!” The others carefully picked their way across like the wood was about to shatter out from under them at any moment, but Lena just rolled her eyes and strode purposefully past. 

“Seems solid to me, in case you were concerned. And that,” Lena couldn’t help the awe in her voice “is a lot of ore.”  

The rest of the group followed suit, jaws hanging open. With her experience in the mines, Lena could identify a lot of copper, a couple of iron and gold, and even a diamond or two. Not to mention a few gems and even a strange purple ore she had never seen before. 

“Wow. How did all this get here?” Louie asked, and Lena could practically see the dollar signs in his pupils. 

“The top of Iox Mountain is supposedly very rich in ore.” Violet tapped a sample of copper with a small hammer. “Perhaps avalanches and minor tectonic shifts cause chunks of rock to dislodge and roll down.” 

“Man, if only there was some way to mine all this stuff.” 

“Oh, it’s a shame we don’t know anyone with a pickaxe or anything,” Lena replied flatly. The other five turned to her excitedly, but Lena held up a hand before anyone could speak. “I don’t have it on me.”

“Right, you were at your  _ sleepover _ .” Dewey wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Careful,” Lena warned. “Lotta rocks around here you could get hurt on.” 

“Ha, you wouldn’t do that.” Dewey joked, but when Lena didn’t flinch he leaned back a bit. “Right?” Lena knew she wouldn’t of course, but she was really not in the mood for any needling.

“Hey, the minecart back here got fixed!” Everyone turned to see Huey had picked his way over to the back wall, waving at them. Heading over at varying speeds, the crew saw he was standing next to a seemingly pristine rail, finger on the call button. “At least, I think it did.”

“Perfect.” Lena stepped up. “Easy ticket back to my house.”

“You want to go back?” Violet asked, dumbfounded. “Aren’t you curious about how this happened?”

“About as curious as I can be. At 3 AM.” she bookended her point by letting out a yawn she didn’t feel the need to withhold and hitting the call button. “Can we reconvene tomorrow morning? Or I guess today morning but later? I gave up being nocturnal when I moved here.” Everyone else yawned almost simultaneously after she had, and she climbed into the minecart that had just rolled up. “See? We’re all tired. We came, we saw it, I doubt it’ll have collapsed by tomorrow.” A couple of mumbled agreements was all she needed. “Awesome! See you all back here in….four hours.” With a wave (mostly to Webby, who waved back) she hit the button with the bus icon on it and sped away.

* * *

Five or six hours, one pickaxe, and an insistence from Scrooge that none else in town needed the ore later, Lena’s back was bent under the weight of all the stuff she had. Among the standard copper-iron-gold ores, she had an amethyst she was definitely going to give to Webby, an Aquamarine that was perfect for the Junimo bundle, a couple of strange purple ores, and a rainbow-colored gem that radiated strange magical energy. She got the feeling it was very rare, but she knew that if she wanted to understand it fully, she had to give it to Duckworth. After a quick ride in the minecarts (which were proving indispensably useful) to drop off the standard stuff and set up the purple ore in a furnace, she pushed open the Library door. “Hoo boy Duckworth, I’ve got something for you today.” Pulling the gem out of her pocket, Lena held it out to Duckworth who, for the first time Lena had seen, looked stunned. 

“Lena, I cannot just take this. It is too valuable. Do you even know what it is?”

“Nope! That’s why I’m handing it over.” Lena placed the gem on the desk and gently nudged it across to him. Duckworth picked it up almost reverently, and Lena began to seriously question her decision to give it to him.

“This is a Prismatic Shard. It has incredible value, and legend has it that it possesses mystical abilities.” 

_ True.  _ “So what I’m getting is we put it front and center so everyone can see it and marvel.”

“You’re still giving it to the collection?” Duckworth’s astonished gaze shifted to her, and Lena fought back the self-consciousness that rose like floodwaters within her. 

“Yeah man. I want you to finish it.” Lena gave him a genuine smile, and for the first time, Duckworth returned it.    


* * *

“Lena. We need to talk.” 

Lena froze in her tracks, nervous for the first time in months. She had spent most of the day down in the mines and fishing, since that seemed like the only way to pass her time productively in the winter. Most of the season went by in a blur with no Junimo bundle to work towards, aside from a few fun sleepovers Lena had a feeling would be the topic of this conversation. Turning to face a stone-faced Beakley, Lena cleared her throat. “What’s uh, what’s up Beakley?”

“Come sit.” She replied, gesturing to the chair on the other side of the table set up in front of the store. Lena walked over stiffly and carefully lowered herself into the chair. Beakley placed a mug of what looked like hot chocolate in front of her, and all Lena could think was  _ Not a terrible last meal.  _ Taking a sip out of her own mug, Beakley looked out over the town square.

“I know Webbigail has been sneaking out at night to stay with you.” She saw it coming, but it still hit Lena like a punch to the gut. “And I know the two of you have started a relationship.” If Lena had been drinking the cocoa, she would have choked on it. As it stood, a strangled noise clawed up out of the back of her throat and she lost her breath for a moment. Beakley calmly waited for her coughing fit to end but held up a finger when she opened her mouth to speak. “Please let me finish,” she said in a tone that simultaneously was and was not a request. Lena shut her mouth as Beakley took another sip from her mug, looking out into the distance.

“It’s no secret who I was in my past.” she chuckled to herself. “It  _ should  _ be a secret, but news travels fast in small towns, and you can’t get much smaller than this one. I, as well as Webby’s parents, lived an adventurous lifestyle. Practically everyone in this town has. Scrooge included.” Looking at the incredulity on Lena’s face, Beakley laughed a bit. “No, really. He was many things before Mayor of Stardew Valley. The only ones who haven’t lived that life are the triplets, Violet, and Webby. Although as of late, we could all see them beginning to reach for it. Pushing out further and further into the wilderness. Staying out past curfew.” A quick glance at Lena. “Sneaking out.” Beakley looked out for another moment, before sighing and putting her mug on the table with a soft  _ clink  _ “I...I am concerned for Webby. Concerned about the enemies I’ve made, yes. But also because...I can see so much of her parents in her, and I’m afraid she will share the same fate. I thought training her would help, teach her how to handle herself better. It has, but it has also only made her want to spread her wings even more. There used to be little chance to indulge that dream, but then the old recluse on the outskirts of the town died.” Beakley was now looking at her intensely. “And someone new came to town. A rebel, who knew about everything she wanted to hear.” Lena was almost trembling. Sighing, Beakley turned back to the horizon. “Would it even be worth it to try and say I didn’t dislike you when you first arrived?”

“No, not really,” Lena replied, beginning to ease her muscles. “Although to be fair, I didn’t really like you either.”

“Yes, I suppose that’s fair,” Beakley said through a grimace, which was honestly a lot better than Lena was expecting her to take it. “I was…” Beakley paused, and in a shocking display, began to quietly laugh to herself “I thought you were going to whisk her away from the Valley, into the city where she would get into all sorts of trouble.” Beakley wiped a tear out of the corner of her eye. “I can see how foolish that is now, looking back. Nevertheless, I worried for a long time. I worried, and worried, and worried until the thought struck me.  _ What trouble could she get into?  _ I have no doubt she could fight her way out of almost any situation, and through you if necessary. No offense.” Lena only nodded, it was probably true. “The only trouble she could get into is one where she was tricked. Where her ignorance of the world was her Achilles heel. That ignorance, which is wholly my fault.” Lena stayed quiet, letting Beakley go where she wanted with this. “Thankfully there is someone she can learn from, with more experience with a normal reality than probably anyone else in this town.”  _ Eeehhhh…  _ “Someone whom she likes very dearly.” Beakley turned back to her again, but Lena wasn’t worried this time. “Today after the store closes, I’m going to talk to Webby and....recommend she move in with you. If you wish.”

Lena’s eyes were the saucers. There was no way she heard that right. “I, I uh….” Beakley waited for her to compose herself once again. “I would like that.”

“Excellent. Ask her tomorrow.” Beakley stood from her chair, collecting her and Lena’s mugs, that latter untouched. “Have a good night Lena.” Beakley nodded to her with a warm smile, before turning and going back into the store. Lena sat at the chair, dumbfounded. “I better go clean up my house,” she said to herself. Standing, she resolved to clean as much as she could and turn in early. Busy days were on the horizon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's not called Iox in the game, but for some reason just calling it "The Mountain" didn't feel right. Also, sorry about the text wall, but having it all as one uninterrupted story gives it some extra oomph.


	17. Bundle Blitz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena wraps up a long-term goal on purpose, and snags a few by accident along the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving break plus snow day equals early next chapter. Made a little edit to the last chapter, but it just boils down to Webby not moving in the NEXT day.

News does travel fast in small towns, and soon everybody was congratulating her and Webby in moderately uncomfortable ways. The Feast of the Winter Star almost took a backseat to it, almost. But the Feast offered much more food and exchange of gifts than the upcoming move-in, and so even the public reveal of Lena’s and Webby’s relationship could not force it into the backseat. Lena gifted Louie a diamond from her crystalarium (“Let’s be real, you’re just gonna sell it, might as well make it worth some money.”) and received a pair of gardening gloves from Violet specifically tailored to her. They were breathable, had a very strong grip on the palms, and were apparently tough enough to stop a bullet. Not that Lena was going to test that if she could help it. Despite the biting chill, the food and merry Lena had come to passively expect from the town parties was everpresent, the concepts combining delightfully messily when Dewey started a food fight. But as the night approached and they all went their separate ways, Lena could see the one thing on everyone’s mind in the sidelong glances they gave her, and couldn’t help but be nervous.

 

Sure enough, when the move-in day came around everyone was in attendance, ratcheting Lena’s nerves up to 11. The only things that kept her from magically blasting everyone off her property in a panic were the friendly atmosphere, the fact that they all meant well, and Webby’s soothing hand on her arm.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this physically close to this many people in my entire life outside of a subway. That feels different though.” She had her hands folded in her lap to stop them from twitching. Webby moved her arm to around Lena’s waist and laid her head on her shoulder. 

“We can ask them to leave if you want. They’d understand.” Webby watched as Launchpad and Storkules moved the new queen-sized bedframe in, passing Violet who was eying the layout of their respective desks critically. 

“No, no I’ll be ok.” Lena took a deep breath, held it, and released it slowly, calming her nerves. “It’s good practice for when it happens with people I don’t like. We should probably get in there though before Dewey sets our alarms to a 30-minute long acapella power ballad.” 

“Mmmm. He would, wouldn’t he?” Webby smiled up at her and with one last comforting arm squeeze, vaulted up from the couch. “Selene, is that a marble countertop? How did you even make that in such a short time?”

Lena looked fondly after Webby, before rising herself. “Donald. Donald! No, I appreciate the boat picture, really. It’s not really the bedroom look we’re going for though. Maybe over in the office….”

* * *

“Did we….move too fast?”

“Hm?” Webby sat up and looked over to her. The pair were enjoying hot chocolate by the fire while the weather was still cold enough to warrant it. 

“I mean, we’ve been dating for like three months and we already LIVE TOGETHER. What if….” Lena hesitated, worried she was jinxing herself just by saying it. “What if something happens, and we can’t stand being around each other anymore?” 

Webby looked at her for a long moment, but Lena didn’t feel an ounce of judgment. “I don’t know.” She looked into the crackling fireplace. “I don’t really have much experience with relationships, let alone being…”

“Gay?”

Webby snorted into her mug. “Yeah. That.” She gave Lena a smile. “But I like being around you now. We’ve already had a pretty ridiculous amount of sleepovers too, so we can be sure there won’t be any routine clashes.” Webby drained the contents of her mug, before laying her head down on Lena’s lap. “There is no such thing as a perfectly smooth road, but I think we can handle the bumps.” 

“Nice quote.” 

“Granny said it to me a lot.” Webby smiled “Actually, she said ‘There is no such thing as a perfectly smooth road, but training will help handle the bumps.’ I think it still applies though.”

“Couldn’t agree more.”

* * *

“Ok! Let’s do this!” Spring had arrived and with it, Lena and Webby had a long to-do list. “Grow the Fiddlehead Fern, fish in the rain, and of course run a successful enough farm to make sure we get to eat.”

“Woohoo!” Webby cheered, excited to get started herself. She had spent a large portion of her life doing nothing but store management and training, and while meeting with Granny twice a week for training was part of the moving away deal, she now had a large block of free time and wasn’t going to spend it laying around on the couch. 

“The first part of this farm is clearing off all the crud that hides under the snow in the winter.” Offering Webby her choice of ax or pick, they walked out onto the porch. Webby let out a low whistle at the state of the yard.

“Yeah.” Lena agreed, shouldering her pick. “It gets pretty messy. But between the two of us, we can knock this out in like an hour or two probably.” 

“Race you!” Webby lept down the porch and dashed over to the nearest tree. 

“Oh you’re on!” 

* * *

Lena felt a spike of nostalgia as she stepped onto the bus. One more bundle down and Scrooge announced he had received a call that the stop at a place called the Calico desert had opened back up. Webby had practically jumped onto her shoulders, saying that most of the last things they needed could be found there. Unfortunately, today was parsnip replanting day, so Lena was going alone. 

The bus driver pulled them up to an ocean of sand. Lena stepped off, and instantly wilted under the heat. This sand wasn’t like the sand at the beach. This stuff was dry and sun-bleached, radiating suffocating heat.

“Oh this isn’t pleasant,” Lena muttered. Taking a moment to look around, she was tempted to beeline for the undoubtedly air-conditioned building, but she spied a small pond and made her way to it instead. The notes she got from Donald’s almanac said this was a good place to get a sandfish, so she pulled out the fishing rod, laid her bag down carefully, and sat down on it, casting out her line. Taking a swig from her canteen, she was happy she got a bite within a couple of minutes. “Come on, Sandfish. Don’t want to spend too long out in this suffering.” Reeling it in carefully, she cheered when a Sandfish head poked out of the water on her line. “Awesome.” stuffing the fish her bag, Lena ducked into a nearby cave to escape the heat. Taking another swig from her canteen, she looked around the cave. It seemed empty, except for a door at the back. “Huh.” Walking over, Lena saw the skull on the door. “No way.” Pulling the key she found at the bottom of the mines out of her pocket, she slid it into the lock. The door slid open smoothly, revealing a ladder down into a pit. “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

* * *

“Holy shit.” Lena staggered into her house. “I have had a day.”

“Lena!” Webby jumped up and ran over to her, carefully working the backpack off her back and helping her over to the couch. “What happened?”

“I found this place in the Desert. Caves, but everything in there is brutal.” Lena flopped down gratefully. “Not going in there alone again. But check the bag.” She offered a small smile.

Hefting Lena’s backpack, Webby zipped it open and her jaw fell open with it. “Holy cow Lena! This has to be at least….70 gold ore? 20 Iriduim ore, and three pure bars!” 

“That place is full of it. We have to go back.”

“That sounds impressive and definitely worth looking into for research,” Violet said from next to her.

“Thank you, it was a lot of WUAGH!” Lena lept off the couch. “When did you!.... Oh, it’s movie night.”

“You really are out of it,” Louie spoke from the chair.

“Look, man, there were mummies in there. Indestructible mummies.”

“That sounds awesome!”

“No, Dewey. It is not awesome. It is annoying at best and deadly at worst.” Lena gratefully accepted the bowl of popcorn placed onto her lap, shoving a handful into her mouth before Webby had even taken her hand off of it. “Let’s just watch this movie. I’m ready to unwind.”

* * *

The Spring season passed in the blink of an eye, and suddenly Lena was holding the final piece of the final bundle, the Fiddlehead Fern, grown ridiculously out of season with intense amounts of magic. She stood before the last pedestal, hesitating. 

“What’s up?” Webby put a hand on her shoulder. 

“It’s just….I’ve been working toward this for so long.” Lena looked down at the Fern in her hands. “What do I do when it’s over?” 

“Find a new goal?” Webby asked. 

“But what if I can’t?” 

“You can.” Lena felt warm arms wrap around her waist and was soothed almost immediately. “Granny said my mom and dad used to say ‘There’s always more to do.’ It may sound disheartening, but honestly, I think it’s relieving.” 

Lena squeezed Webby’s hand and put on her own sunglasses. “Right. This is just one chapter-”

“-in an unfinished story.” Webby finished, smiling. Turning to face the pedestal, Lena gently placed the Fern. At this point, the ritual was almost a comfort and another pang of sadness struck Lena when she realized this would be the last time she was seeing it. The glow didn’t stop this time though, growing in intensity longer and longer until even with the shades, Webby and Lena had to look away. The force was much greater as well, pushing on them with gale-force winds, forcing them to bend forward to avoid being blown backward. When it faded away, the pair pulled down their shades and opened their eyes. And for the first time, Lena genuinely had to sit down, awed. 

The floorboards were immaculate, the fireplace crackled merrily. The clock hand she loved playing with was gone, no doubt reattached to the face outside she could hear reliably  _ tick tick tick _ ing away. It felt so welcoming and homey Lena couldn’t help the tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes and looking over, Webby was much the same. 

“Lena. Webbigail.” Looking at their feet, a small cluster of Junimos were gathered. “Thank you, both. We could never hope to repay all that you’ve done for us, but we can try.” The Junimo began to fade away, and a bolt of panic lanced through Lena’s heart. 

“Wait, what’s happening to you?” 

“We cannot stay here. This place will be bustling with townsfolk. We must go.” Lena felt the tears pricking her eyes for a different reason. Sensing her shift in mood, the Junimo in the front placed a hand on her knee. “Worry not, Lena. I am sure we will meet again. And if not, know that we could not be more proud of you.” The Juninmo faded away, and Lena couldn’t hold back the tears anymore, burying her head in Webby’s shoulder. 

* * *

“Hey. Lena.”

“Mmmppphhrr….what is it Familiar?”

“You might want to come and see this.”

“I’m not really having a good week right now.”

“I know, I know. But I promise this will help.”

“....If you’re lying to me to get outside.”

“Oh my god, I’m not. Just come on.” Familiar lept off her nightstand and waited expectantly on the floor. Grumbling, Lena sat up, gave Webby a quick pat on the shoulder, and stood up to follow her cat.

“Look outside.”

Lena, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, opened the door and looked out over the farm. And her mouth dropped open. Junimos were all over her property, watering crops outside the sprinkler radius, milking her animals, collecting fruit off the trees.

“Wha….I….huh?”

“I told you.” said a familiar voice from her feet. Looking down, it was the Junimo from last night. “We would meet again.” Motioning her to follow, it hopped off the porch and walked around to the back of her house. When she turned the corner, Lena saw the Junimo Hut from the Community Center, as if it had been picked up and deposited by a gentle, giant hand. “We could not stay in the Community Center, but we didn’t want to leave yet either.” The Junimo lept up into her arms, and Lena caught them with practiced ease. 

“Also, you have a letter.” Familiar licked his paw and rubbed it behind his ear. Gently setting the Junimo down, Lena made her way to the mailbox. Pulling out the letter, she tore it open with her thumb. 

“‘Dear Lena, everyone around town has been talking about your generosity lately. Packages have been appearing at people’s doors of things they put on the community center bulletin, all addressed from your farm!’ I really should name this place….” Lena trailed off, looking out over all the Junimo tending to her lad for her, of their own free will. “Magic Farm.” 

“Little on the nose there.” Familiar purred from his spot on the porch railing.

“Exactly.” 

* * *

“Woah.” Lena’s jaw was going to get loose if it kept hanging open like this. 

The villagers had no doubt discovered the newly refurbished Community Center, and they were very happy to have it back. Balloons and streamers littered the ground outside the front door. When she and Webby pushed it open, they couldn’t believe it. The triplets could be heard arguing theoretical heists in the crafts room, Beakley was walking back and forth between the pantry making a cake of some kind, Donald was admiring the fish in the tank approvingly, Violet Fenton and Gyro were in the bank discussing infrastructure improvements around the town, and Selene was in the boiler room, beating both Launchpad and Storkules in an arm-wrestling match simultaneously.

“Ah. There ye are.” Scrooge strolled over, and Lena realized how little weight he truly put on his cane. “You’ve done this town an incredible service, Lena. And Webby.”

“Mostly Lena.” Webby said cheerfully, radiating pride. 

“You still helped-” Lena started, but Webby smiled and gently turned her head back around to face Scrooge.

“For all you’ve done for us Lena, I would like to present you with this town’s highest honor. The Stardew Hero Award.” Pulling a small trophy out from behind his back, he presented it to her. She took it mostly out of instinct, too shocked to comprehend. Looking down, she read the plaque, which simply said “Hero.” She felt the tears welling up in the corner of her eyes-

“Bah! What’s all this!” Lena was shocked as a voice she didn’t recognize cut through the festivities. A short, stout duck with a kilt and grey beard burst through the doors. “I thought this building was going to be demolished!”

“Who’s that?” Lena whispered to Webby.

“Flintheart Glomgold. Runs the Jojamart.”

“There’s a Jojamart? Ew.”

“Yeah, that about sums it up.”

“Glomgold,” Scrooge said calmly, placing his cane in front of him and leaning on it slightly. “I was considering it, but after it’s refurbishment I think I might leave it standing.”

“What? No! This was going to be my warehouse!”

“Not anymore Flinty,” Scrooge said with no small amount of smugness threaded through his voice.

“Well….fine! Doesn’t matter! I’ll own this town yet Scrooge!”

“No one likes your store Glomgold!” Huey called from the crafts room. 

“I did work at Jojamart Corporate before I moved here. I might technically be your boss.” Lena mused, mischief plain in her eyes. 

“Gah!” Glomgold started, eyes wide. “Well I, uh, I have a store to run! Scrooge.” he sneered before turning and storming back out of the building. 

“Hope I never see him again,” Lena said none too quietly, not really caring if Glomgold heard. 

“Ditto.” Webby echoed, and Scrooge let out a hearty laugh. 

“Best to put him out of mind. Come now, ladies. Beakley is making her famous chocolate cake, rumored to make angels weep.”

“She is?” Webby beamed. Grabbing Lena’s arm, she began dragging her girlfriend to the kitchen. “You have to try it Lena!”

Smile spreading across her face, Lena allowed herself to be dragged to the kitchen. “With a recommendation like that, I could hardly say no could I?” Closing her eyes for a moment, for the first time Lena felt herself revel in the wonderful chaos instead of shy away from it. 

_ So this is what a home feels like.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [cough cough] UNFINISHED STORY [cough cough]
> 
> Thanks Sam for the farm name


	18. Melting Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena gets a visit and some news

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kinda torn about adding this chapter. On the one hand, it's been the plan since like day 4 of this story. But I accidentally ended everything nicely in the last chapter. So I think I'm going to call this pseudo-canon. If you want to say the story ended in chapter 17, I don't blame you. But these next ones will still come out.

Lena rarely ever remembered her dreams, which she was assured was perfectly normal. The ones she did remember were totally mundane in nature, so she assumed that magic just did not play a role in her dreams. This night, however, was different. 

From the dreams she remembered, they all seemed sensible, but this time she was positive she was dreaming but would recall it all when she woke up next morning. Not that there was much to recall, there was nothing around her but a black void. Looking in all directions, all she could see was a faint purple light in the distance.

“What a disappointment.”

“Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Lena muttered as the spectral form of Magica de Spell drifted into her view. “Seriously? You can’t even stay dead?”

“You’re my creation,  _ golem  _ I live through you.”

“Yeah, newsflash, that didn’t happen. You tried it, it didn’t work out, move on and take up knitting or stamp collecting or something.”

“I COULD ONLY DO THAT SPELL ONCE!” Magica shouted at her, cool facade quickly shattering. Lena couldn’t stop herself from flinching, even though she knew Magica couldn’t reach her from wherever she was. “I HAD EVERYTHING PLANNED, AND YOU RUINED IT YOU MISERABLE WHELP!”

“Don’t talk to her like that!”

“Webby?” Lena turned around, surprised. Webby, wreathed in shining blue light, was floating up to them with murder in her eyes. 

“Stay out of this, girl. This matter doesn’t concern you, this is between me and my creation.” Magica waved her hand dismissively, and Webby launched herself at the woman in a rage. 

“The hell it doesn’t!” She shouted, but Lena put out an arm and caught her mid-lunge. 

“Don’t let her get to you,” Lena said as she wrapped her arms around Webby. “She can’t do anything but blow hot air from that side of the Barrier. 

“The Barrier?”

“ _ The  _ Barrier.”

“Oh.”

“She doesn’t even know?” Magica let out a harsh laugh, and Lena’s fist clenched. “ _ This  _ is how you’ve decided to live? You have no idea the power you could wield, yet you’re spending your life in a tiny little house with this pathetic mortal imbi- _ ghrk! _ ” Lena’s hand shot up in a clenched fist, and for the first time, Magica’s eyes went wide with fear. She couldn’t choke to death, of course, she was already dead. But she could still feel it.

“Don’t you ever speak about her like that. Ever.” Lena gritted her teeth and squeezed her fist tighter, relishing the panic in Magica’s face until she caught herself. Sighing, she eased up on the pressure a little, and Magica gasped out a breath. Or something akin to one. “Listen, Magica. It’s over. I would say I’m sorry your plan didn’t work out, but I’m really not because you were going to possess me.” Lena brought Magica forward until her beak was distorting the invisible Wall between them, and drifted right up into her face. “Give. It. Up. Because if I ever see you again, I’ll summon you back to the living world just to have the pleasure of sending you to Hell myself.” Rearing her arm back, Lena released her fist and pushed, and watched as Magica sailed back into the void. 

 

Lena didn’t wake with a start, or haziness, or anything. Her eyes simply snapped open, and she was up. For a while, she just stared at the ceiling. Eventually turning to face Webby, she saw the shorter duck was already up, looking at her.

“Were you-?”

“Yes.”

“Ok.” Lena sat in silence for another moment, simply looking into Webby’s eyes. “So, you’ve met my….parent? I guess? What do you think?”

“I’m kind of upset I didn’t get the chance to punch her.” 

Lena snorted. “Believe me, I would have loved to see it. But I doubt we’ll be seeing her again. She knows I’ll make good on my ultimatum.”

Webby slid over and fitted her head under Lena’s chin like a puzzle piece. "You’ll be ok?”

“She doesn’t scare me anymore.” Lena wrapped an arm around Webby’s shoulders and easily sunk back into a pleasant slumber.

* * *

“I’m sorry Lena, but I cannot say. You have no idea how one of a kind you are.”

“Damn right.” Webby walked into the kitchen. “What’re we talking about though?” Walking over to the counter, she pulled a knife out of the drawer, spun it in her fingers, and began cutting up carrots for dinner.

“Lena was simply asking questions about her biology.” The Junimo on the other counter hopped up slightly. 

“Is this about that feeling you told me about? The ‘sense of wrongness’?” 

“You remember that?” Lena asked, shocked.

“Of course. I’m still looking for a therapist in the city.”

“While seeking help never hurts, I’m afraid the problem runs deeper than that.” The Junimo looked back to Lena, unsure how to tackle the subject. “Aahhh….”

“It’s ok.” Lena interrupted. Walking over to Webby, she leaned against the counter so she could look at Webby’s face while they were talking. “Shadow golems aren’t really supposed to exist for too long. It’s like….” she struggled to find the words. “Like if you took too much DNA out of a cell, it’ll die because it can’t function like that. I’m missing the stability mortals and magical beings like the Junimo have when they’re born.” 

“So that’s it? You just what, fall apart?” Webby had unconsciously started chopping the carrots much more aggressively. “That can’t be it.”

“Maybe….maybe it doesn’t have to be.” The Junimo on the counter spoke, and the two turned to face them. “Mortals, as descendants of the Old Gods, possess muted forms of all magic. Lena possesses shadow magic naturally and has been gifted nature magic. If she….” The Junimo trailed off, and the two women waited for them to resume with bated breath. “It has never even been attempted before, but if Lena could acquire all types of magic, she should be able to prevent any decay, and fill the ‘hole’ in her, so to speak.”

“That’s fantastic!” Webby carefully placed the knife she was holding down onto the board and grabbed Lena’s shoulder, but the taller was less enthusiastic. 

“All types of magic? From all the respective spirits I’m assuming?” The Junimo nodded, or a Junimo approximation of a nod. “I don’t even know where to begin. How would we even find them all?”

“That is not your only problem, I’m afraid.” The Junimo spoke again. “You may have difficulty convincing them to grant you their blessing. Magic in mortal beings has been dulled through time, and spirits can only access a single type. But if you were to do this, you would be wielding the magic in its undiluted form. If you succeed, you will be the most powerful witch that ever lived. Maybe even a goddess. 

“ _ You have no idea the power you could wield!” _ Lena shuddered. She wasn’t sure she wanted that much power. “Well, I may not even need to right?” She asked. “I mean, the nature magic in me can hold me together, yeah?” 

“For a while, but it is more of a transfusion than a cure. The only way to have a long life may be to obtain all types of magic.” 

“Damn.”

“For the record, I don’t want you to die,” Webby spoke up from Lena’s side.

“Well, I don’t want to either. But really? Death or diety? Those are my only choices?” 

“Not necessarily. Death is an almost certainty if you do nothing, but there is no telling how the magic will react. You may just become a mortal witch of notable power. It may even be too much and burn you up. There is simply no way to know.” 

* * *

“What should I do?”

It was later on, nighttime. Lena and Webby were laying in their bed, staring at the ceiling. 

“I don’t know. There’s still so much I don’t understand about magic. And I think this is your choice to make.”

“What do you think I should do?”

Webby turned to face her. “I think….I think you should try.” 

“Yeah?”

“It seems like….” Webby held back the dark thoughts and scenarios boiling in her head “like your only chance. At least, we’re pretty sure it is.” Lena said nothing, so she continued “And like I said earlier,” Webby’s hand snuck into Lena’s “I don’t want you to die. I  _ really  _ don’t want you to die.” Lena reached her free hand over and brushed a tear away with her thumb. 

“I don’t want to die either. I’m just….scared. What if I lose myself, become some cold, cruel god with no empathy? Or like-”

“You won’t,” Webby interrupted with unshakable confidence.

“You’re gonna keep me in line?”

“No.” Webby slid across the space between them and huddled up to Lena’s body. “You’re going to keep you in line. You spent over a year in a town you had no reason to spend more than a week in just to help the people and spirits that live here. You care, and the world is better for it.” 

For a moment, Lena was speechless. She felt the urge to deflect the praise spring up, but she pushed it back because screw it, she wanted to be awesome. Especially to Webby.

“Ok.”

“Ok?”

“Ok.” Lena wrapped her arm around Webby’s back. “Let’s do it. It may take a long time though. A LONG time.”

“A life of exploration and magic with my beautiful girlfriend? I think I can agree with that.” 

“Of course we’ll come back every now and then.”

“Oh for sure.” Webby nodded her head seriously. “But that does mean-”

“That the farm has to stay running. Which then means-

“We have to tell someone.” They said in unison. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this, and every Weblena story I write, a way for me to have Webby tell Lena my feelings that she's the best? Maybe.


	19. Big Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People giving Lena gifts, as if they like her or something? Wow, what a crazy thought haha....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's funny, the last "ending" happened by accident and this one kind of snuck up on me. One more chapter, and an epilogue after.

Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Violet sat on their couch in stunned silence.

“Your Aunt sucks.” Dewey finally spoke, although the faraway look in his eyes suggested he wasn’t through processing Lena’s story yet.

“Sucked. Past tense.” Lena corrected, gently pushing tea into their hands. “And yes, she did.”

“You have presented info that, if true, would change the fabric of everything I know,” Violet muttered to herself, but Lena answered anyway.

“I know. Take all the time you need to work through it.” Lena went and sat down next to Webby on the floor, who was petting Familiar and looking anxiously at their friends. “They’ll be ok. They’re tough. Not everyone can take it as well as you.”

“Well, I did kind of know for a while….”

“What?” Lena looked at Webby, who looked sheepishly aside. 

“I was watching the town through my night vision binoculars one night, and I saw you head up to the Community Center. I saw you throw a bolt of lighting right out of your hand, and a bunch of strange lights from inside. I didn’t see the Junimos though, that was a shock.” 

“No kidding.” Lena thought back, trying to find some tell that Webby knew, but she couldn’t find one. “And you didn’t say anything?”

“Well how exactly am I supposed to bring that up in casual conversation?”

“Mmm. Fair point.”

“Ok, wait!” Huey interrupted from the other side of the room, although he hadn’t been following their conversation anyway. “Let me sum this up. Lena…. _ isn’t _ a real person.”

Webby opened her mouth to angrily correct him, but Lena put a hand on her knee. “That’s….a bit harsh, dude. I’m just not a mortal like you are.”

“Ok, sure. Not mortal.”

“Thank you.”

“She was made by Magica to possess, got away, but when Magica the evil witch LIVING IN OUR TOWN died, came to take care of her stuff.”

“Didn’t want anyone turning themselves inside out or anything.”

“Putting THAT terrifying statement aside, you then discover them-” he pointed to a Junimo, watching from a table “- and that Magica screwed them over.”

“Uh-huh.” 

“So you help un-screw them, get together with Webby in the process which is honestly the only point of sanity in all of this.” Violet and the other two triplets nodded in agreement. “And that brought the Community Center up and running again, but now YOU’RE DYING?”

“I guess technically I was always dying. Everyone is always dying.” At the four withering looks she got, Lena quickly backpedaled. “Ok ok. Yes, the magic holding me together is failing, especially with Magica dead. The nature transfusion helped slow it down, but it hasn’t stopped.”

“So you have to go on some sort of magic road trip?”

“The road trip isn’t magic. It’s a road trip to find spirits to give Lena magic.” Webby answered for Lena.

“Which would stop the melting, but could potentially turn you into a GOD.”

“Potentially.”

Another couple of long moments of silence, before Louie spoke for the first time since he heard the story. “Not that I don’t appreciate your trust in us, but why exactly are you dropping this wrecking ball of info on us now?”

“Well, we’re going to be away from this farm for who knows how long, and the Junimo can only take care of so much.” Webby started.

“We were hoping you could take care of the place while we were away.” Lena continued. “You can keep any profits the farm makes after, you know, paying the taxes and stuff and split them between yourselves, and the Junimos can take care of the crops and animals. Just keep it clean and intact.” 

“And it would probably be better if you heard about them from us instead of stumbling on them yourself.”

“And we trust that you won’t  _ experiment  _ on them or use them for  _ adventures _ or  _ profit _ .” Lena gave Louie an extra sharp look at the last one, and he raised his hands placatingly.

“So are you telling the whole town about the….” Violet waved a hand in Lena’s direction.

“Not the whole thing. We’re going to be taking a road trip, and that’s it. Only you four know the reason.” 

“It’s a shame you decided to embark on this journey now.” The Junimo on the counter spoke, causing the four on the couch to jump. “You could have met with the Ocean Spirits when they stop by the beach on their pilgrimage.”

“Huh? There are other spirits in the Valley?” Lena was pretty sure she hadn’t felt any other magic nearby.

“Only once a year. The jellies.”

“The jellies….wait, the Moonlight Jellies?” Huey lept off the couch. “They’re spirits too?!”

“Naturally.” 

“Damn. You know, I thought I felt something weird that first night on the beach I saw them.” Lena mused. “I guess we’ll definitely have to come back by then next summer.” She turned back to the four people on her couch who appeared to be experiencing the five stages of grief anew. “Ok! Let’s show you how to make a fence post.”

* * *

Lena wiped the sweat off her brow, lethargic in the heat and exhausted from the exercise the Skull Caves gave her. But her bag was full of valuable gold, iridium, and gems. She even found another-

A twitch from her bag stopped her dead. Reaching around, she pulled out the Prismatic Shard, feeling it jump slightly in her hand. Looking up, she saw it was pulling her to a triangle in the sand, with three towers at the points. She sensed nothing from it, so she slowly approached, the tugging in her hand growing stronger. When she reached the center, there was a flash and magic surged around her. Lena could only stare as she was suddenly standing amongst what looked like the stars. The view only lasted a couple of seconds, and with another flash, she was back on earth, if she had ever left. She felt an unfamiliar weight in her hands, and when she looked down her eyes widened. In place of the Prismatic Shard was a beautiful sword, shimmering with the light she had been seeing not a few seconds ago. Giving it an experimental spin, she found it was still significantly lighter than any sword she had ever wielded. Pressing her finger up against the edge, she hissed and yanked it away, a spot of red blood mixed with oily darkness dripping down the blade. Sharp too. Lena knew exactly what to do with this.

 

“What?” 

Lena rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, I’m sorry I lost the Prismatic Shard, but I think you could use this a lot better than I could.”

“Lena, this sword is insane.” Webby held the blade almost reverently. “You couldn’t find craftsmanship like this anywhere on earth.”

“All the more reason for you to have it.” Webby didn’t seem convinced, so Lena placed an arm around her shoulders. “I learned swordplay out of necessity, and by trial and error. But you actually KNOW this stuff. You can use this so much better than I can. Besides, now that my magical abilities are going to be expanding, I was thinking of working myself some kind of staff.” 

Webby looked at the blade for a moment longer, then whipped around to face Lena. 

“Woah!” Lena put a hand up. “I know that look, and while I’d love a hug, probably not while you’re holding the sharpest blade in existence thank you.” 

* * *

All in all, the townsfolk took the news a lot better than Lena had expected. Webby had to gently lead a hyperventilating Beakley away, but Lena was confident she would work that out. Everyone else was very supportive, almost a little too much so. Everyone else crowded around her like a mob of reporters with lights in their eyes, and Lena’s survival instincts flared.

“Where are you going?”

“Well, no real destination. I haven’t been outside the city too much, and Webby hasn’t been outside the Valley at all, so you know. Take the chance while we have it?”

“Why now?”

“See previous answer.”

“WHAT ABOUT THE FARM?”

Lena winced at Storkules’ ever-loud voice. “HDL and Violet are going to look after it for us.”

“What going away gifts do you want?”

“Going away huh?”

“Going away gifts.” 

“I, uh, I wasn’t expecting any.”

“What?” Scrooge pushed his way to the front of the crowd. “Nonsense. You’re part of the family now lass.”

Lena pushed back the tears she could feel pooling in the corners of her eyes. “I can’t really think of anything on the spot like this.”

“Eh, we’ll come up with something ourselves then.” Selene slugged her on the arm, which actually hurt quite a bit. The crowd began to disperse as Webby and a much more relaxed looking Beakley returned. With a quick hug, the two waved goodbye and Webby came back over to Lena, grinning.

“So she took it well?”

“Weeellll, no. But she gets it.”

“Awesome. I knew the two of you cou-oomph!” Lena stopped as she walked into something solid. There, standing just outside the Community Center, Launchpad stood stiff and serious looking. Before either of them could ask, he spoke.  

“Follow me.” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and began walking. Webby and Lena cast each other curious looks before catching up. Lena had never seen Launchpad so serious before. The two followed him in silence back to the Saloon, where he motioned them back behind the counter. Leading them behind the kitchen, they came to a door with six separate locks on it. 

“I didn’t know this room was here,” Webby muttered.

“I’m getting the feeling he doesn’t invite people often.”

“Lena.  _ I didn’t know this room was here. _ ”

“Oh. Oooh.”

With a  _ click! _ , the last lock popped open and Launchpad held the door open for them. Making their way in, the only thing Lena could see was a global map on the wall covered in pins. 

“I’m gonna be honest big guy, you’re really starting to freak me out here.” Lena grimaced as Launchpad shut the door behind them and walked around to stand between them and the map. 

“This is the most important thing I own.” The serious look never left his face. “This map marks the location of every place I can eat or sleep for free, and if you tell them you’re my friend, you can too.”

“What? No way.” Lena was astounded. “Launchpad, there are like 400 pins in this country alone!” She stared at him, waiting for the joke, but it never came. Instead, he handed Webby a flash drive. “We may never have to buy food ourselves,” Lena said more to herself, shocked. “How? How did you do this?”

“I’ve lived quite a life before settling here in the Valley.” He fluffed his jacket and looked pridefully into the middle distance, and suddenly the old Launchpad was back. Lena and Webby could only thank him for the map, promise not to tell another soul, and walk home still slightly dazed. 

* * *

Selene stood on Lena’s porch, a wrapped box in her hand. “Storkules’ and I finished our present. And-” she held up a hand “don’t say ‘We didn’t have to.’ I’m not having any of that.” Lena took the outstretched box and tore off the paper, revealing a plain metal box. Unclasping it and flipping it open, Lena’s eyes went wide. Sitting in a foam mold was a dagger, made out of the same material as the sword she had given Webby not a couple of days ago.

“How?” Was all she managed to ask, gingerly lifting the dagger out of the box.

“Webby came by with the Galaxy Sword the other day. Gotta say I’m impressed you found it. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen one of those.” For a moment Selene had a faraway look in her eyes, and Lena could’ve sworn she looked much older. But soon enough she snapped back. “Stork and I had to go back to our roots to get this made, but we knew you were worth it.” Lena could only stare. She was used to the easygoing confident grin on Selene’s face, but as she took the sheathe out of the box and gently slid it over the dagger’s blade, Selene’s smile looked very different. Regal. 

“Take care on your trip, ok?” Lena found herself pulled into a hug, and returned it on reflex. “I can’t wait to see you when you’re back.” With a wave, she turned and made her way back up the path.

Lena stood in the doorway for a long moment, trying to wrap her head around everything that just happened. A low whistle from the couch grabbed her attention, and she turned to see Webby, eyebrows raised.

“If I wasn’t gay before.”

* * *

Lena felt an intense wave of  déjà vu as she stared at the car keys in her hand dumbly.

“Granny, you can’t just give us this!” Webby looked at her Beakley moderately concerned. “It’s your truck!”

“Do either of you actually have a vehicle to take this trip in?” Beakley replied cooly.

“We, uh, we were going to work that part out later.” Webby looked sheepish.

“I see. Well, the gas mileage isn’t great, but this truck will get you through anything.” Beakley put a hand on both of their shoulders. “Let me just say, I was….nervous when you told me about this trip. But I know you must leave the nest eventually. And I trust you are more than capable of looking out for each other.” She pulled the two of them into a fierce hug. Lena supposed someday she may get used to hugs, but it surely wouldn’t be soon. “You’ll come see me before you go?”

“Of course.” Webby held her tight. 

“Excellent. Then there’s no need for goodbyes just yet.”

* * *

“It’s not just a smartphone,” Violet said as Lena and Webby examined her gift. “I tried to put as much as useful hardware I could into it, including a rudimentary magic detector.”

“Really?” Violet gently took Lena’s and navigated to the app, before handing it back to her. On the screen was a view like a thermal camera. Violet and Webby had a dull hue, the plants she had grown in the pots around their house were a little brighter, and when she pointed it toward herself, Lena saw she was lit up like a North Star Tree. 

“It doesn’t do specific types of magic, only a yes/no kind of thing. And I know it may not compare to your natural senses, but a backup never hurts. As for cell capabilities, professor Gyro has agreed to let you piggyback off his Super Tower, so you should have full coverage anywhere in the world barring the very top of Mount Everest.” Violet’s expression softened. “I know you have to go, but I’m going to miss you.”

“We’ll be back.” Webby and Lena both wrapped her in a hug, making more of a huddle.

“Oh gods I just realized I’ll have to handle the boys all on my own. I take it back, I hate you now.” The three burst into laughter, easing any tension almost immediately. 

“Hopefully we won’t be gone for that long.”

* * *

Lena could barely breathe. She was wheezing in air between desperate laughter, doubled over leaning on the couch, even as Webby looked disapprovingly between her and the boys.

“Really?” She said, holding the card Lena had shoved into her hands up to them. The front had a picture of someone standing in front of a cake, licking their lips. The word  _ Congratulations _ embossed underneath, but it had been poorly scribbled out and handwritten underneath was  **Don’t melt.**

“What? What else could we get?” Louie asked

“Anything!” Webby shouted, throwing up her hands. “Almost literally anything else!”

“Come on, she likes it!” he pointed over to Lena, who was just managing to control her breathing.

“I’m going…I’m going to put that…on the fridge.”

“See?” 

Webby sighed and rubbed her eyebrows. “You three are unbelievable.” 

* * *

Another rapping at the door had Lena wondering if she should put a “No Soliciting” sign out. She appreciated all the gifts and well wishes, but she was getting tired, especially after Fenton added an entire cellar expansion onto their house free of charge and despite their insistence it was too much. Swinging the door open, she saw Scrooge looking out over the farm.

“Ya know, I’m really happy you decided to develop all this.” He spoke before Lena could open her mouth. “It’s a shame your Aunt left it in such a state.”

“Yeah, well, a lot of things she did were a shame,” Lena muttered, distracted. There was a very powerful magic aura surrounding Scrooge, but she was sure there hadn’t been one in the nearly two years she had been here.

“Well, be that as it may, I’m glad you came to our town, and a little sad you have to leave it.” Turning to face her, he held out a long, flat unwrapped box that the magic was actually coming from. And now that she was more focused, she was sure she recognized it.  _ But it couldn’t be…  _ Gently taking the box, she pulled off the lid and couldn’t stop herself from gasping. There, laying on a bed of tissue paper, was the Return Scepter. 

“Wha…how…?” Lena was truly at a loss for words.

“I check in on  _ all _ the members of my community from time to time.” Scrooge gave her a sly grin and a wink. “Some even owe me favors.” Turning on his heel, he looked back over his shoulder. “Remember lass, home is where the heart is. Come visit often.” With a tap of his cane, he strolled back down the path. Lena could only watch until he was out of sight, shellshocked by having the most powerful Relic she had ever seen gifted to her by who she thought was an ordinary man. 

Looking back down at the Scepter, she thought  _ Well, only one thing to do.  _ And pointed it toward the sky. With a flash, a  _ ping! _ and the feeling of racing across the ground, she was gone. 

* * *

Lena blinked and tried to get a handle on her surroundings. She was down in the Skull Caves, she recognized the pattern on the walls. But why-

“Hi-yah!” Spinning around, she saw Webby cleaving a mummy in half with the Galaxy Sword.  _ Oooohhhh  _ Wiping the sweat off her brow, Webby scanned her surroundings and her eyes lit up when they landed on her. 

“Lena! When did you get here?”

“Oh, you know. Just now.” Shaking off the last of her daze, Lena heard a clatter behind her. Spinning around, she unsheathed her dagger and made three quick cuts in the mummy, dropping it.

“What are you doing here? Not that I don’t mind the visit.” 

“Oh, I’ll tell you later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Selene know? Is she a goddess? I'm not sure, whenever I ask she just smiles and says "Oh, you know."


	20. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One door closes, another opens. Such is the law of equivalent exchange.  
> Wait, that's the line right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one likes a drawn-out goodbye.

The sending off party was unlike anything Lena had experienced. For the first time, she was the center of attention (or an equal half of it at least) without feeling nervous or self-conscious. People were coming up to her and talking to her, and she wasn’t angry at them for it. She was still an introvert at heart, but at her own party surrounded by people she loved, she could hold back the sarcasm and have fun. It did help that the party was happening on her favorite part of the Valley.

The beach had been decked out once again, and the spring temperatures made the water perfect for ill-advised games of Marco Polo, chicken fight, and breath-holding competitions (Webby was, of course, the leader amongst the six, but when the older members of the valley were convinced to try not even Beakley could stand up to Donald’s 20+ minutes under). Launchpad had a grill running for a few straight hours, serving the Webby and Lena specials as well as the more common beach party foods. Strings of lights were hung across poles and tiki torches danced shadows across the sand after the sun fell. With almost a physical start, Lena realized she had just been sitting at the big dining table, arm around Webby’s waist and just talking for almost an hour and a half. Time had gotten away from her, and when she checked her watch she grimaced. Tilting her arm, she showed it to Webby, who had the much more noticeable reaction of crying “Oh shit, it’s late!” 

Snorting into her lemonade, Lena untangled herself and offered Webby a hand up. “Unfortunately, she’s right. We’re heading out pretty early tomorrow morning.” She jerked in surprise when a hug bodied her from her side, pinning her and Webby awkwardly together. Turning, she saw Launchpad had wrapped her and Webby in a tight embrace, even going so far as to lift the two up off the ground. 

“I’m gonna miss you.” Launchpad had tears in his eyes and was very close to getting snot in Webby’s hair. With an impact from the other side, Storkules hugged them as well. One by one, everyone at the party made their way around the table and piled on until the couple was surrounded by bodies. 

“We’re-” Lena cleared her throat, her own tears betraying her. “We’re not dying or anything guys. We’ll be back.” Webby could only nod, not trusting her voice not to shake.

“Are you sure you have to go?” Beakley asked, and Lena’s resolve cracked at the sadness in her voice. But her eyes found Webby’s, Violet’s, and the boys’, and while saw the melancholy there too, they all nodded their resolve at her. 

“We really do,” Webby answered for her.  “I’m sorry Granny.”

“Oh, Webbigail. You two never have to apologize to us.”

* * *

Lena and Webby lay in her bed, wide awake. They had a late-night tonight and an early morning tomorrow, but neither could seem to close their eyes. 

“I…” Lena started, but left the sentence hanging when she couldn’t seem to put the feelings to words.

“Yeah.” Webby answered, wrapping her arms tighter around Lena’s torso. “I know.” 

* * *

“Plan?”

“Check.” Webby held up the planner that held their travel itinerary, covered in glitter at Webby’s insistence. 

“Music?”

“Check.” She slid the disc into the truck’s outdated stereo, pausing it before the song could start. 

“Essentials.”

Webby unzipped the backpack on her lap. “Phones, wallets, power bank, two sets of clothes, boots, sword and dagger, Scepter of Returning, first aid kit, pen and paper.” She zipped the bag closed again. 

“GPS?”

“Set.”

“Snacks?”

“Got ‘em.”

“Cat?”

“Check.” She heard from the back seat. 

“Check.” Webby reached behind her to rub behind Familiar’s ears.

“Luggage in the bed?”

“Tied down.”

“Ok then.” Lena shifted the truck into first, looking out at the road stretching before her. “Here we go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on, they're Ducktales kids. They can't just SETTLE DOWN.  
>  _Psst. I still have an epilogue planned. ___


	21. Unplanned Perfections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, why does Lena even try and make plans anymore?

“Ok,” Webby said as she pushed the apartment door open. “The staff say that the power outage covers multiple city blocks-”

“No duh. I can see out the window.”

“-and they don’t have a generator backup. They have, however, graciously supplied us with these.” Holding out one hand, two fist-sized candles were balanced in her palm. “They’re unscented.” Placing one on the TV stand and the other on the nightstand, she shed the flight jacket she had gotten not a couple of blocks from here on their very first trip to Zuzu city and went to sit down next to Lena. When she faced her, however, she stopped, putting her hands on her hips instead. “Really?”

“What?” Lena said around her spoonful of ice cream. Clicking off the flashlight in her lap, she snapped her fingers and two small flames lit in the candles. “It was gonna melt.”

“What about all the other stuff?”

“We can eat that too.  _ After  _ the ice cream.” Lena held out a spoon to Webby, waving it tantalizingly in the air. With a loving sigh, she grabbed it, sticking it into the carton to the sound of a satisfied “Yes!” Grinning to herself, she ran a hand through the streaks in Lena’s hair, knowing it would knock the smugness right out of her. And it did, even in the dim candlelight, Webby could see the blush spreading across Lena’s face. 

“Hhhmmm, this is coming in nicely.” Webby rolled the red streak, now almost fully grown out, between her fingers. Lena could only stutter, and Webby laughed, taking another scoop out of the mostly empty carton and dropping down into the chair next to Lena’s. “I’m excited to see everyone tomorrow.” She mused to the shadows dancing across the walls. “I wonder if anything has changed.”

Lena swallowed thickly. That was the best lead-in she was going to get. “I, uh, I should tell you. I already went back for a bit yesterday.”

“Aw, what?” Webby sounded hurt, and Lena quickly elaborated.

“It wasn’t a big thing! I just needed to go see Selene really quick. She hasn’t changed, by the way.” 

“Oh. Well, what did you need?”

Lena’s throat felt like someone was pouring sand down it, but she pressed on. “I asked her to forge something for me a while ago, and it was ready.” She laughed a little to herself. “You know, it’s funny. I was planning on doing this either back at the farm or out on the balcony with the city lights in the background, but I should know by now things don’t always go as planned.” Standing up from her chair, she knelt down on one knee in front of Webby, who dropped her spoon with a loud clatter onto the table. “Webby, I....words can’t describe how happy I am to know you. You showed me more love than I could ever want, and helped me understand I deserved it all.” Taking her hand out of her jacket pocket, a soft glow was emanating from her closed fist. Slowly unclenching her fingers, she revealed a wedding ring in the center of her palm, the Iridium band inlaid with gorgeous swooping patterns and the refined Prismatic Shard illuminating their faces in its gleam. “No matter how long the rest of my life ends up being, I know I want to spend it all with you. Will you marry me?” 

Webby, hand in front of her mouth and tears running down her cheeks, could only nod. Breaking out into a grin, Lena gently took her left hand and slid the ring onto her finger. As if doing so had broken a spell, Webby threw herself off the chair, tackling Lena to the ground and covering her in wet kisses. 

“We...Webby!” Lena couldn’t stop laughing, her own joy shining through. “The ice cream is going to melt!”

“We’ll buy more,” Webby responded. With barely any effort, Webby lifted Lena back off the ground in a bridal carry, gently walked her over to the bed, and laid her down on it. Without hesitating for a second, Webby jumped on top of Lena, laying her head right over her heart. As Lena ran her hand over Webby’s back under her shirt, feeling the warmth racing under the toned muscles through her fingers, she decided that she could afford to be excited about the future and content with the present at the same time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this story a 44k+ word excuse to make Lena a benevolent goddess with half a head of rainbow hair, and Webby her equally immortal champion/wife? MAYBE.


End file.
